As Time Goes By
by waterdragon719
Summary: Well...we all want to know what happened after the season final... read inside! Rated K for mild swearing. Please R&R! FINISHED!
1. Introductions

Well, yes, it's me again. I finally saw the final episodes of Surface (I know, sad, but I had to get a friend to download them off the net), and I decided to write this fic about what happens afterwards. Yes, I know, there are probably millions of these out there, but oh well. 

For those of you who have read my previous fanfic (ahem) do not judge this fanfic from that one. They are both totally different. Also, I beg of you not to judge this fic by the first chapter. I suck at first chapters (and probably always will).

Please read and review, open to criticism etc.

Now enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface or any of its characters. I mean, what's the point of writing fan fiction if you know what's going to happen?

Title:

Four people stood on the top of a submerged church, staring out into the ocean that the world had become.

"Shit" said Rich, "This is really bad".

"You don't say?" replied Laura sarcastically.

Caitlyn stifled a sob, "Oh God…Oh God…"

Miles bit his lip, "How many of those things do you think are down there?"

"Enough" Rich said, "I don't think we are getting out of here anytime soon"

"But we don't have any food or water!" Caitlyn exclaimed, "How are we going to survive!"

"We'll think of a way" Laura said, "Just don't panic"

"But what about the creatures?"

"Don't worry" Miles said, "As long as Nimrod is here, they won't hurt us"

Nim squawked and puffed out his chest. Rich looked at him suspiciously,

"Where did you say you found him?" he asked.

"Well, a year ago I fell off a boat and came face to face with one of them. Then I went back and I found a whole bunch of eggs" Miles answered, "And I took one."

"How did you raise it?" Laura asked. Miles shrugged, "I put him in the fish tank. Until he broke it"

He didn't tell them about 'Nim's Gift'. He didn't trust them enough yet.

"Why do you want to know about these things anyway?" Caitlyn asked. Rich looked at Laura who nodded.

"I'm a marine biologist, and I was attacked by one when I went down in a submersible" said Laura.

"And my brother was killed by one of them" said Rich. In all the rush, he had forgotten about his brother.

"I'm so sorry…" Miles began. Rich held out his hand.

"Rich. My name is Rich. And this is Laura"

Miles shook his hand, "Miles. And this is Caitlyn"

They stared at each other for a moment, then Miles cleared his throat, "So…what do you guys know about these things?"

Miles listened as Laura and Rich explained what they had found out, and afterwards he stared at them blankly, "So…these things are man made? And you think this Iderdex has something to do with it?"

"We don't think" Rich said, "We know this company has something to do with it"

"Their agents have been tracking us for months" Laura added, "Whatever they want with the creatures is still a mystery"

Miles looked over at Nim, who was sitting quietly on the edge of the roof. He couldn't imagine him being the result of some weird experiment conducted by a bunch of super smart scientists. It was a horrible thought.

Caitlin was shaking her head, "I still don't get it. Why would people do such a thing?"

"Because they can" Laura answered, "If someone sets out to do something, they won't stop until they do it. These people wanted to make a super-powerful race of amphibious lizard, they did it. But they just didn't think of the consequences."

Caitlin still shook her head, "No. There has to be more to that. I mean, why did they go to all that trouble to stop people finding out? And why did they create these things? You don't just wake up one day and say 'oh, today I feel like creating a new species'. There has to be some kind of motive…"  
"I think crazy is the word you're looking for" Rich said.

Laura rolled her eyes. She began to fiddle with the bracelet on her wrist.

"That's a nice bracelet" Caitlin commented.

Laura smiled, "See the sign?"

Miles leaned over, "That's the infinity sign, isn't it?"

Laura nodded, "I gave one to my son…barely hours ago"

Suddenly Laura started to cry. Caitlin put her arm on her sholder,

"Don't worry. You'll see him again. Once we get back to civilisation"

Laura laughed coldly through her tears, "If nobody is still trying to kill us."

Rich came over and hugged her, "Hey girl, don't start talking like that. I'll see my girls and you'll see Jesse as soon as we get out of here"

Laura pushed herself away, "All I wanted to do was find out the truth. But I bit off more than I could chew."

Miles looked up at the sky, which was now turning a dark orange, "You know, I think we're all tired. Let's just lie down and try to get a good night sleep"

Laura nodded and walked over to a corner of the roof. Rich hesitated, and then he went over and settled not far away.

Miles slowly lowered himself on to the ground and tried to get in a comfortable position. He eventually just lay on his back and stared up at the sky. Caitlin followed suit.

"Miles?" Caitlin asked. Miles turned to face her.

"Yes?"

Caitlin bit her lip, "Do you think they made it?"

_Poor Caitlin_, Miles thought, _she_ _didn't want this. I should have never met her._

_Then you wouldn't have saved her_, another voice said in his head.

"I'm sure they made it" Miles smiled, "Don't worry. We'll get to them soon."

Caitlin smiled, "Miles?" she said once more.

Miles heart suddenly started to pound in his chest, "Yes?"

"Goodnight" said Caitlin. She rolled on her side, and ten minutes later she was asleep.

A few hours later, Miles, Laura and Rich were still awake. The sky was glittering with stars against the black abyss of space and there wasn't a cloud for miles.

But that wasn't what they were thinking about.

Miles felt a breath against his cheek. Nimrod had come over and was playfully tugging his hair. Miles laughed and pushed him away,

"You have horrible breath, you know that?"

Nim nudged his hand and pushed his head underneath it. Then he settled down and fell asleep.

_So this is what it's like being a parent_, Miles thought, grinning.

He thought of his own parents. Where were they? Were they alright? They were probably worried sick.

He thought back to a year ago, before he had found Nimrod. Life had seemed normal then.

_Nim definitely turned my life around_, Miles thought, _but for better or worse?_

Laura was fidgeting with her bracelet. She imagined Jesse, scared and alone, twirling his own bracelet and wishing she was there to comfort him.

_I miss you too Jesse, _she thought, more tears threatening to fall out of her eyes.

She wiped them away, _pull yourself together Laura. Jesse wouldn't want to see you cry._

Maybe she should have just left the creatures alone. She should have left it and gone on with her life. Then she wouldn't be here, stuck on a church in the middle of an ocean.

All she wanted to do was see her son.

Rich was listening as the water swished below them. He was thinking about his brother. In all the rush to find out the truth, he had completely forgotten about his motive.

_What else have I forgotten about?_ He thought.

His girls. His wife. His mates. His life.

Rich heard his brother's voice echoing from a past time,

_I'll always be there bro. Promise._

_I wish you'd kept your promise,_ Rich thought wistfully.

And so, that night on the church, three people fell asleep thinking the same thing.

_When will life be normal again?_


	2. Wreakage

Well, thanks for the reviews! This is chapter two, and I hope you enjoy!

Wreckage:

When Miles woke up, he was extremely stiff.

He got up and stretched. It was amazing that he even got to sleep on that hard, parallel ground. He felt like an old plank of wood.

From what he could tell, it wasn't too early. The sun was up, but the sky still retained some of that pinky dawn colour. It was very pretty in a way.

However, Miles didn't cherish the moment for too long. Something else caught his attention.

Caitlin's eyes slowly forced themselves open. The first thing she thought about was how stiff she felt. Then she saw Miles.

"Miles? How long have you been awake?" She asked, as she slowly stood up and stretched.

Miles said nothing. Caitlin stopped stretching, "Miles? Miles, what's wrong?"

Miles turned to her and nodded out to the water. Caitlin hesitated, then came over and leaned over the edge of the roof.

The first thing she noticed was that the water had risen. A lot. She could touch the surface when she leaned and stretched out her hand. But then she looked up and gasped.

There was debris littered all over the waves. Pieces of a boat floated past as Caitlin took in her surroundings.

"What do you think caused this?" she said uncertainly.

Miles pointed to a sheet of metal with what looked like bite marks in it. A shiver ran up Caitlin's spine.

"Maybe there were survivors" Miles put in hopefully.

"Survivors from what?" came a voice behind them.

Miles and Caitlin turned around. Laura and Rich had woken up and were stretching out their arms and legs,

"Oh God, that has to be the most uncomfortable bed I've ever slept on" Rich yawned.

Laura nodded in agreement. She stood up and came over to Miles and Caitlin,

"So what were you…" her gazed moved to the water and her eyes widened.

"Rich? Rich, come here!"

Rich leaned over the edge of the roof, "Oh my God…"

"We think one of the creatures must have attacked the boat" Miles said.

"Did you see any survivors?"

Miles shook his head. Rich frowned and then reached into the water and began to pick up the pieces of boat,

"Grab what you can. We might be able to use this scrap to make a raft"

No-one argued and they all started to collect the remains.

A radio floated past, still burbling out a song. Caitlin picked it out of the water,

"_I can be your hero baby, I can kiss the pain away…"_

Miles reached out to touch it and a spark jumped out of his finger. Caitlin quickly dropped the radio as it crackled and died. Miles glanced at Laura and Rich, but they didn't appear to have noticed. They were watching something else.

"Rich, look at this…" Laura whispered.

A corpse was floating past. It was a man, and he appeared to be missing an arm. Scratches criss crossed his body and the white coat he was wearing was ripped and dangling uselessly by his side.

But that wasn't what Rich and Laura were looking at.

"It's him" whispered Rich, "It's that guy we met at Iderdex"

"Looks like he tried to escape when he realised Iderdex was going down" Laura remarked, "And ran into a little trouble"

Rich frowned, as if he was trying to remember something. Laura averted her eyes from the sight and noticed something else.

Next to the body were two boxes. Laura grabbed them before they got out of reach and studied them.

One was a box of papers. She placed it behind her, thinking it might come in handy later. She moved on to the next box.

It was a cooler. And it was full.

Moments later, the group were popping open tins of food and gulping them down like it was their last meal.

"Who'd have thought that tinned corn beef could ever taste so good" Rich said as he reached for another tin.

"Don't eat too much!" Laura warned, "This food might have to last us for a while!"

The others ignored her. Rich picked up another tin and unearthed a small cylinder at the bottom of the cooler. He placed his tin down and picked up the cylinder.

"Salt" he said, reading the label, "Who brings salt in an emergency evacuation?"

Miles abruptly stopped gulping down some tinned peaches and stared at the salt cylinder. He saw Nimrod jump onto the roof and rush to Rich's side. He crawled up, grabbed the salt in his mouth and ran off again.

"Hey!" Rich yelled. He made a move to get up, but Miles stopped him,

"They need the salt" he said simply.

Nimrod turned the shaker in his mouth and got a mouthful of salt. Choking, he dropped the shaker and let it roll across the roof. Miles retrieved it and put it back in the cooler,

"We might need it" he said.

Laura nodded. Caitlin was looking a little worried, but Miles smiled at her and the lines on her forehead disappeared.

Laura shut the cooler and grabbed the box of papers, "Let's see what we can find here…"

She opened the box and took out the first paper. It was a picture of the founding fathers of Iderdex, the same one Laura had found in the abandoned lab. Alger Kessler stared out from the picture like a distant memory. Then something twigged at her mind,

"Hey! That guy from Iderdex…he looks a lot like…"

"Alger Kessler. At least a younger version" Rich finished, "I knew I recognised him from somewhere"

"Alger Kessler?" Miles asked.

"He's one of the founding fathers of Iderdex" Laura explained, "We found a video in his old study which showed him finding one of those orchids I told you about"

She didn't mention the other man that was with him. The man, who in later years, would be cloned. _Looks like Davis Lee wasn't the only one cloned_, she thought, _he must have cloned himself to continue running his firm._

Laura reached for the next paper. It was a list of some kind, and at the top was a title: EXTERMINATED. Beneath that, several names appeared. A shiver travelled down Laura's spine and she quickly put the paper aside.

Miles pulled out the next page. It was a little wreaked and the bottom was torn off, but it was still legible. It was some kind of letter, and as Miles read it his blood chilled,

"Their maximum height and weight are unknown, but it is clear that these things hold enormous power. They can conduct electricity and expel it for protection; they are self healing and are capable to take down something even ten times their size. The tests are going well and we should be ready to release them soon"

Caitlin gulped. Rich looked at Laura, "Well, the 'slipped off the table' theory is now officially out the window"

Miles stared at the sheet of paper and imagined how big the adults were. If they could kill something ten times their size, then picking off a few humans would be a cinch. He wondered if they ate their own kind.

As they gradually went through the papers, they found a few more letters and a couple of lab results. Nothing of importance. Then they got to the bottom of the box.

"Look at this!" said Laura.

The group assembled around the sheet of paper. Laura read it out,

"The virus has successfully been manufactured and is being sent for testing. Once we get the results we can use it as we please. Although, we won't need it. The creatures are almost ready"

"Virus?" Rich wondered, "They made a virus to kill these things?"

"Every plan needs a backup plan" Laura said, "They must have made it in case the creatures got out of hand"

She placed the papers back in the box and pushed down the lid, "Well, I think that helped us a bit. At least we know what happened to Kessler"

"And now we know there's a virus" said Miles, "If we could find it…"

Miles didn't want to think about what would happen if they found it. Suddenly, Caitlin gasped.

"What? What is it?" Miles asked.

Caitlin looked at him, and then turned to Rich, "That Iderdex place, you said they had cryogenics fridges?"

Rich frowned, "Yes…"

"With two of every animal? Like Noah's Ark?"

"Yes" Rich said, "What does that have to do with…?"

Caitlin gulped, "Well, what if it was a Noah's Ark? What if these creatures were made to bring around the death of the human race?"

The group was silent. That was too horrible a thought to think about.

Well, there is chapter 2…awaiting chapter 3 soon…thank you DarkPsion, Celandine and Ruby Maggot for reviewing!


	3. Changes

Hello and welcome to chapter three!

It's a little short, but it works, so I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Unless I could buy the rights to Surface, and unless I could afford to buy the rights for Surface, I do not own it. Pity…would have loved that Nimrod plushie…

* * *

When Miles woke up, he was surprised that he didn't feel stiff.

_Maybe I'm used to it, _he thought, _it has been a few days._

He yawned and rubbed his eyes. Slowly, the world came into focus again and he sat up and stretched.

_I feel really good! _He thought, _maybe it's a good sign._

He saw Caitlin quietly sleeping next to him and smiled. She looked really pretty in the morning light, he decided. He lightly touched her cheek and considered waking her up.

Suddenly, Caitlin stirred. She sleepily opened her eyes, and then saw Miles. Her eyes widened and she screamed.

Laura and Rich woke up, "What? What's happening?"

Caitlin screamed again and punched Miles in the face. Miles staggered back, dazed, as blood trickled out of his nose. What was going on?

"Caitlin! Caitlin, it's just me! It's Miles!"

Caitlin stopped screaming, "Miles?" she said, confused.

"Yes. Miles"

Caitlin stood up, "Oh Miles…I'm so sorry…I didn't recognise you…" she gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth.

Miles frowned, "What did you say?"

Caitlin shook her head, her hand still on her mouth.

Miles noticed Rich and Laura staring at him, "What? What's wrong?" He said, the fear rising in his voice.

Then he noticed his reflection in the water. He gasped.

"Oh my God…"

* * *

Miles touched his face with one clawed finger as his brain tried to take in what was going on. His slitted eyes moved from his face to his hands, where sharp claws had replaced his nails and thick, strong webbing had appeared between his fingers. He saw the gills on his neck flapping in the breeze. He watched in horror as the bruise on his cheek slowly changed colour, turning back to the sickly green that his skin (or scales?) had become.

"Oh my God…" he repeated, "What…"

Rich walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Miles jerked around and stared up at Rich with absolute fear. Rich coughed,

"I think you have a bit of explaining to do…"

Laura nodded. Caitlin looked on in fear. Miles remained where he was, still as a statue, still trying to take everything in.

_So that's why I felt so good_, Miles thought, _I'm sure Nimrod never gets stiff, what with those healing powers._

"Miles?" Caitlin inquired. Miles jumped and stared at Caitlin like she had appeared out of thin air.

"Rich…" said Laura "Lets just leave him for a while. He'll tell us when he is ready"

Rich gave Miles one last worried look, then he walked away. Laura followed him and they sat in the corner, whispering.

Miles sat down and took another look at his hands. _I guess it was inevitable, _he thought, _I mean, I can't keep changing forever…_

Caitlin came over and kneeled beside him, "Miles, I understand what you must be going through…"

"No" he said, still staring at his hands, "You don't understand Caitlin. You are very, very far from understanding"

Miles looked at her with a sad face, "You don't understand what it's like to suddenly wake up one morning and discover you're a freak, a mutant who should be hunted down and killed"

Caitlin shook her head, "Miles, that's…"

"You don't know how I feel Caitlin!" Miles shouted suddenly. Rich and Laura looked up from their conversation and Nimrod quickly scattered to the edge of the water.

Miles stood up, "You said I had something special" he said, "But maybe I don't want to be special"

And with that, he turned around and walked away.

* * *

"Laura, it's not normal…"

"Yes Rich, it's not normal. But we can't just go and force him to give us answers…"

"But what if he knows something! What if he knows how to kill these things?"

"Well, he obviously isn't going to tell us, is he?"

Laura shook her head, "Rich, I don't understand this anymore than you do, but we have to give the kid some space. You saw how shocked he was, we'll just make matters worse if we start interrogating him!"

Suddenly, behind them they heard Miles shout. They looked up and saw him shouting at Caitlin,

"You don't know how I feel Caitlin!"

He stood up, "You said I had something special" he said, "But maybe I don't want to be special."

Then he turned around and walked away. Caitlin sat there for a moment, a look of utter bewilderment on her face, and then she quietly sunk down and rested her head between her knees. Nimrod jumped back onto the roof and followed Miles.

Laura sighed and stood up, "Here, I'll try to talk to him. Maybe we can settle this out"

* * *

Miles sat on the edge of the roof, staring out into the ocean. Nimrod appeared beside him and nuzzled his arm.

Miles stared at Nimrod, and then moved away, "Go away Nim. You did this to me"

Nimrod didn't move. He squawked and sat down firmly. Miles tried to push him away but Nim stayed rooted to the spot.

"Go away you stupid animal!" he growled. Nimrod looked up at him curiously and Miles gave up. He got off the edge and sat on the ground, sulking.

Nimrod jumped down and climbed onto his shoulder. Miles stood up and knocked Nimrod off his shoulder with a swipe of his clawed hand,

"Don't you know the meaning of go away!" he shouted.

Nimrod huddled on the ground, terrified. A deep cut had appeared on his leg, and Miles watched in horror as blood began to drop down onto the ground.

_What have I done?_

Miles kneeled down to Nim. Nim flinched back.

"I'm sorry Nimrod…" Miles said, "I'm so sorry…"

The cut was already healing, quickly closing up before his eyes. Soon all that was left was a small scar. Nimrod hesitantly moved closer to Miles, and then he leapt onto his shoulder and licked the side of his face.

Miles laughed, "Thanks boy. I'm so sorry"

Nimrod looked at him as if to say, _you're forgiven._

Suddenly, Laura came over and stood beside him. She leaned back on the edge of the roof and stared up at the sky,

"Looks like an okay day today, doesn't it? At least, as okay as it gets standing on a roof"

Miles was unsure how to reply. Nimrod quietly growled on his shoulder. Laura looked back down at Miles and sighed,

"Miles, I know you must be a bit…well…shocked…"

_Well, duh. I've just turned into a mutant freak if you hadn't noticed._

"But I was hoping you'd tell me what happened…you don't have to if you don't want to"

Miles hesitated. He didn't particularly want to tell Laura, but he guessed that she would get it out of him sooner or later. He sighed and sunk down onto the ground.

"I don't know how it happened" he said, "I'd released Nimrod into the ocean, and one night I went looking for him. But I got bitten by a bunch of those creatures"

Laura was listening intently, and she nodded for him to continue.

"Well, I had to go to the hospital. The doctors couldn't figure out what was going on, and they thought I was going to die. Then Savannah brought Nim into the hospital, and he escaped and got into my room, where he healed me"

Laura nodded, "Of course. The healing powers"

Miles looked over at Nim, who had jumped off his shoulder and was running after a beetle, "I haven't been the same ever since. And now…"

His voice trailed off. Laura kneeled down beside him and lightly punched him on the shoulder,

"Hey, cheer up. You still got us!"

Miles looked up at her in surprise. She smiled at him, and he didn't see any disgust or horror in her eyes at the sight of him.

_You still got us…_

It had only been three days, but Miles already felt like he knew these people like his family.

* * *

Caitlin and Rich had decided to build a raft from the boat scraps and had begun to piece it together when Miles and Laura came back.

"Miles?" Caitlin asked hesitantly. Miles got down and hugged her, "I'm sorry Caitlin"

Caitlin smiled and punched him on the shoulder, "That's okay, fish boy. Glad you're alright"

Rich looked up at Laura curiously, and she mouthed a short, 'later'.

"We've started building a raft" said Caitlin, "If we work hard on it, we might be able to launch it tomorrow"

And so, for the rest of that day, they worked on the raft. The whole time, Miles's head was spinning.

_You still have us._

He looked at his hands for the hundredth time. He was glad that the others didn't think he was a monster, but he would have to show himself to the rest of the world sometime.

Then what?

* * *

Oooh…mysterious…find out what happens next in chapter 4!

Thanks, once again, to Ruby Maggot, Celandine and DarkPsion for the reviews! They keep me going!


	4. The Ferry

Wow, I'm updating so quickly…as soon as school starts again I probably won't update for ages:( Unfair school.

Anyway, here is the fourth chapter, in which the group launch the raft and Miles says goodbye. Won't tell you anymore, read on for yourself!

Disclaimer: I have a fantasy in which I do own Surface, but in reality I don't.

* * *

The Ferry.

The group on the church looked at their raft in dismay.

They had been building it all through the day yesterday. But in the morning light, it looked more like a bunch of random scrap than a raft.

A large, curved sheet of metal had been placed on top several scraps of metal and bound with a coil of rope found in the boat wreak. It was crude and scrappy, and it didn't look seaworthy at all.

But it was all they had.

"Sure this will float?" Rich said.

"Sure it will" said Miles optimistically, "It's made of boat scrap isn't it? If a boat can float, so can this raft"

Slowly, the four people picked up the raft and lowered it into the water. It tipped a little, then righted itself and began to float.

"Great!" said Laura "Let's get off this church!"

Laura and Caitlin carefully got in the boat. Rich hesitated,

"Hold on guys…there isn't enough room for four people"

Caitlin looked up at Rich, "What?"

"There isn't enough room. I can't believe we didn't see this before…"

Miles glanced at Rich guiltily. Caitlin saw him and she sighed,

"You knew, didn't you Miles?"

Miles bit his lip and said nothing. Laura frowned at him,

"Miles, why didn't you say something?"

Miles sighed and straightened his back,

"Because I'm not going with you"

Caitlin jumped up so fast the boat rocked dangerously, "But…Miles! You have to come!"

Miles held up his hands, "Caitlin, look at me! If I turn up at that ferry like this, I may as well just write up my own death certificate"

"But…"

Laura sighed and nodded, "Miles has a point Caitlin. Maybe it would be better if we left him behind…"

Caitlin looked at her in horror, "I can't believe this! You just want to leave him here! He's a human being, we should…"

"Caitlin, think about it. People want to kill these creatures, do you think they are going to care if Miles is human or not? It would be safer for him to stay here"

Caitlin looked at Rich pleadingly, as if looking for some support. Rich shook his head,

"Whether we like it or not Caitlin, its Miles's choice. If he wants to stay here, we should let him"

Caitlin shook her head, "No. I can't believe you would just leave him alone, stranded here without a hope"

Miles grabbed her hand, "But Caitlin, I have hope. I have Nimrod to keep me company, and it's not like I'm going to die of starvation or anything. The others will help me. I'll escape this church by myself, and I'll find you"

Caitlin gulped, and tears welled up in her eyes, "But what if you don't find us? What if you leave and never come back?"

Miles smiled, "Then you'll just have to find me instead. And you will."

* * *

Rich lifted the cooler and a couple of makeshift oars into the raft, "Well, that's it. We're ready to go"

He slowly crawled into the raft, carefully avoiding the edges to stop it tipping. The raft bobbed a little and leaned a little towards the left, but otherwise it stayed floating on the water.

Miles jumped into the water beside them. A small wave rocked the raft, and the others had to move the cooler to centre the weight. Miles popped his head up from under the water,

"Right. We ready?"

The group nodded. Miles grabbed the edge of the raft and pushed. Slowly, the raft began to move, gliding over the water like a baby swan. Eventually it stopped and bobbed on the water.

"Well, that was a successful launch" said Rich, "Wish I had a bottle of champagne"

Laura laughed, "The cork would probably tip us over"

The four people sat there laughing for a moment, and then Miles spoke up,

"Well, I guess I'd better go"

He looked up at the group and smiled, "Thanks guys. Thanks for everything"

Rich leaned forward and clapped him on the shoulder,

"Hey man, stay safe okay? We don't want to meet up with you and find out you've gone and become fish food"

Miles laughed. Caitlin leaned over and kissed him on the cheek,

"I'll miss you Miles. Don't be gone for too long"

Miles nodded, "I'll miss you too"

Caitlin sat back up, tears threatening to pour down her face. Miles bit his lip and turned to Laura.

Laura stared at him sadly for a moment, and then she took off her bracelet and handed it to him.

"Take it" She said.

Miles shook his head, "No. I can't take it!"

Laura pushed it into his hand, "Yes, you can. It will be a lot easier to find you if you have this"

"But…"

"Just take it Miles"

Miles put the bracelet on awkwardly. He knew how much it meant to Laura, and it felt wrong to take it.

Laura grinned, "Don't worry. You can give it back when we see you again"

Miles smiled "Thanks Laura."

He spun the bracelet around on his wrist. He took one last look at the others, and then bobbed down and disappeared beneath the waves.

* * *

"Are you sure that's north?"

"Sure I'm sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I honestly don't think we are going north"

"Look. There is the sun. There is north. We are going north"

"Guys!" Caitlin interrupted, "Stop it! Does it matter if we are going north or not?"

"Sure it does!" Rich protested, "You said that was where the ferry was going"

Caitlin frowned, "The ferry has probably moved way off the course by now. I mean, a tsunami doesn't exactly agree with directions"

Laura sighed, "She has a point Rich. Maybe we should just stay here and hope someone comes to find us"

Rich looked at her sceptically, "Yeah, then we can wait for those creatures to come and rip us to pieces. Caitlin says the ferry is going that way, I'm going that way"

"You aren't the captain Rich" said Laura, "I vote we stay here"

"Laura! We can't stay here!"

Laura glared at Rich and then turned to Caitlin, "Caitlin, do we stay or do we go?"

Caitlin looked from Rich to Laura, and then to Rich again. Then she burst into tears,

"It's hopeless!" She sobbed, "It's hopeless! We're lost! We're never going to find the ferry! We're going to die out here and I'm never going to see Dad or Miles again!"

Caitlin sat there for a moment, sobbing, until Laura came over and hugged her, "Hey Caitlin, its okay. Don't worry. We will find the ferry. You will see your dad again"

She turned to Rich, "I'm sorry Rich"

Rich sighed, "No. I'm sorry. We shouldn't be fighting at a time like this"

He opened the cooler and took out a drink, "Anyone thirsty?"

Caitlin and Laura nodded. Rich was handing over a bottle of water when Caitlin screamed,

"Rich! Behind you!"

Rich turned around just as a gigantic creature dived under the water right next to them. A wave vibrated over the water, and it sent the raft rolling through the water. Rich was pushed down and then thrust into the cooler. He reached out to grab it but instead he grabbed something else. He tried to swim up to the surface but something was holding him down. He kicked his foot and his shoe fell off, letting him free. He quickly thrust himself towards the surface.

* * *

Caitlin and Laura were already up when Rich emerged beside them.

"The raft!" he shouted, "Grab the raft!"

The raft was quietly bobbing a metre away from them. They swam towards it and held on to the edge to stop sinking. The raft was torn and there was a hole in the middle, so there was no way of getting back on it.

Laura coughed, "Everyone alright?"

Caitlin and Rich nodded. Laura nodded too.

"Good. Good. Rich, have you got the cooler?"

Rich shook his head, "Sorry"

Suddenly, he remembered that he had something in his hand and lifted it up, "But I got this"

It was the salt container. It was a bit water logged, but it was still full.

Laura shook her head, sending water droplets splashing into the water, "Great. Our assets are a broken raft and a salt container. I'm sure that will come in handy"

Caitlin was shivering with cold, "That thing…that was one of the creatures…"

"Yeah, I know" Rich said, "Do you think they came after us?"

Laura shook her head, "I don't know"

Suddenly, something popped up next to her. She picked it up and held it up in the air. It looked like a tattered bit of fabric, with bits of leather hanging off it and bite marks in the side. A lone shoelace dangled on the item.

"Hey, that's my shoe!" Rich exclaimed.

Caitlin screamed, "Something touched me!"

Laura looked down and saw a small dark patch in the water. She glanced at Rich,

"They're under us" she said, her voice a mix of cold and fear.

Rich scanned his mind for anything that would help them. He could feel the water underneath them shifting as the creatures swam around them. _Probably deciding which to take first._

Rich looked at the salt container in his hand._ This is so useless, why couldn't I have grabbed a harpoon…_

Suddenly, Rich remembered something.

_Nimrod jumped onto the roof and rushed to Rich's side. He crawled up, grabbed the salt in his mouth and ran off again._

"_Hey!" Rich yelled. He made a move to get up, but Miles stopped him,_

"_They need the salt" he said simply._

Rich unscrewed the top of the salt container and raised it above his shoulder.

_I hope this works…_he thought. Then he threw it.

It landed with a little plop a little way away from them. Caitlin and Laura looked at him crazily, "What are you doing?"

Rich waited. Sure enough, he felt the creatures swimming away from them. He waited a bit longer, but it looked like they were gone.

"Thanks Miles" he said to no-one in particular.

* * *

The group must have stayed like that for about an hour. They didn't talk; they just floated there and waited for the creatures to come back. They didn't.

Suddenly, Caitlin broke the silence, "Hey, what's that?"

She pointed to something to their left. Laura and Rich turned and watched the little dot that had appeared on the horizon.

"What _is_ that?" said Laura, straining her eyes.

"Is it one of the creatures?" asked Rich.

"No" said Caitlin, "It looks familiar"

The group watched as the dot got closer, and closer. Caitlin let go of the raft and started to wave her hands in the air,

"Over here!" she shouted, "OVER HERE!"

"What are you doing?" Laura asked.

Caitlin turned and beamed at them, "It's the ferry! They found us!"

She turned around and waved and shouted again. Laura and Rich did the same.

And so they were rescued.

* * *

Well, that's the last we'll see of Miles for a little bit, I'm afraid…but don't worry; he'll be back very soon!

Ruby Maggot, DarkPsion and Nimster57, I am truly in your debt!


	5. Waiting

Here you go, as promised! Chapter 5!

I've never done so many chapters so quickly in my life!

In this one, Caitlin, Rich and Laura are on the ferry and deciding what to do. We also find out about what the creatures have been doing…ooh, mysterious!

Anyway, I hope you all like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface, but I DO own the name of the ferry, the captain of the ferry and his friend, and of course the plot to this story! YAY!

* * *

Waiting.

When Caitlin woke up, she expected to be stiff from lying on the roof all night. When she wasn't, she sat up and realised she was lying on something soft. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around.

_Where am I?_

Yesterday's events came rushing back to her. She remembered seeing the ferry, and the captain stopping it and lifting her and the others up onto it. But most of all, she remembered the reunion with her dad.

"Caitlin!" he'd shouted and thrown his arms around her, "I'm so glad to see you! When that boy turned up on your scooter…"

"Dad, I missed you so much!"

They had hugged for ages. It was something you couldn't express in words.

Caitlin moved her attention back to her surroundings. She was on the inside of the ferry, sleeping on one of the seats. Her dad was sleeping next to her, snoring loudly. Caitlin fought to suppress a giggle and instead let out a sort-of half snort. Her father stirred a little, but then turned over and went back to sleep.

Caitlin quietly got off the chair and crawled around her dad, careful not to wake him up. She tiptoed around the other chairs and made her way up onto the deck.

There were people everywhere, just sleeping on the deck. Families were bunched up together, others seemed to be clinging to the wall to avoid other people, and some people just weren't asleep at all.

Caitlin tiptoed around the others, almost falling several times trying to avoid stepping on fingers and toes. Eventually, she spotted who she was looking for and made her way over,

"Sleep well?" She asked Rich and Laura, who were both staring out into the ocean.

Laura turned to her, "Sleep? I've forgotten what the word means"

"It was okay" said Rich, "Better than a church roof, anyhow"

Caitlin laughed and looked out to the ocean with them. The sun was still rising, and the sky was a dull pink. The ocean reflected the sky, making it look like there were two skies. Caitlin imagined that they were all just birds, flying among the reflected sky.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" said Laura. Caitlin nodded, but he mind was drifting else ware.

"Do you think he's okay?" she asked them.

Rich and Laura turned to her. Rich shrugged, "I'm sure he's fine. Miles is a smart kid, we just have to hope and wait for him"

"But how long do we have to wait? How long until…"

Laura sighed, "Caitlin, I know you care for Miles, but sometimes you just have to trust him. He knows what he's doing"

Caitlin looked down at the water, "Sorry. It's just…ever since I met him…it's like I've become a different person"

Rich snorted, "Know what you mean. Before this, I was carefree; I had two beautiful girls, a loving wife and a brother. Now I feel like I've got nothing"

Laura nodded, "I used to spend time with my son. I used to feel happy around water, and now I'm scared as hell. I used to have a life"

"I've cried more in the last few days than in my entire life" Caitlin said, "I used to feel stronger. Now I feel…I have no idea how I feel really. Weaker. More afraid"

The trio stood there thinking as the sun rose over the water. They had changed in so many ways, and not all good. And yet there was still something there, a silver lining on a cloud that kept them together.

Caitlin watched the water as it moved around them and wondered, not for the first time, if life would ever be the same again, or they would walk out of this new people. She decided that, if they did, no matter what it was worth it. Worth it just to see the things she'd seen and met the people she'd met, even if there had been some trouble along the way.

Life was like that. No matter how bad the situation, something good came out of it.

* * *

Laura gratefully took the rations that had been handed to her and sat in the corner with Rich. She opened the tin of cold tomato soup and took a sip.

"I wish we still had the cooler" she said, "Then we could give these people some of our food too"

Rich frowned at her over his packaged sandwich, "Hey, I tried. Wish I had got it though, there _was_ a lot of food still in there"

Suddenly, the captain's voice blared over the loudspeaker.

"People, listen up!" came the old, weary voice, "Here's something you should hear…"

There was a moment of static, and then a voice erupted out of the loudspeaker,

"_The tsunamis have now struck New York, Houston and New Jersey…_"

Laura turned to Rich, "The creatures…they're causing more tsunamis!"

"At this rate they're going to sink America!" Rich said, "How are they doing it…"

Laura thought for a moment, "I think I know. These creatures like heat, right?"

"Right…"

"So it's simple. Where is the hottest place on earth?"

"A desert?"

"No, I mean like three thousand degrees hot"

Rich clicked his fingers "The centre of the earth"

"Right. So, the creatures went to the Hispaniola Trench and dug, trying to get through to the earth's core. So they broke the crust and caused a tremor, which caused the tsunami. They must have hot spots all over the world now"

Rich groaned, "This is brilliant. Just great. Not only are these creatures going to drown us, they'll boil us as well"

Laura punched him in the shoulder lightly, "Don't be so negative. We know there is a virus that can kill them, right? All we have to do is find it and we can stop them"

Rich shook his head, "How are we going to find it though. It could be anywhere!"

Laura shrugged, "We have Miles. We have Caitlin. We have knowledge. I'm sure we can find it if we try"

"If you say so" said Rich. He handed the remains of his sandwich to her, "Here, you have it. I'm going to wander a little"

* * *

Reynolds Hosking was the captain of the _Mare Bello_, the ferry which had taken many people across water throughout its lifetime and was, according to him, the best ferry around. Its name translated to _Beautiful Sea._

Although, the sea didn't look so beautiful now.

"It stretches for miles" he said to his friend Jack, "I can't see land anywhere. And we're running out of rations"

"There has to be somewhere these tsunamis haven't struck" said Jack, "We're not done yet"

"Even if we did find land," Reynolds went on, "Everything would probably be gone. Washed away. We can't keep going like this; we're running out of fuel too"

Suddenly, there was a huge crash and the boat shook violently. Reynold gripped the wheel and held on for dear life as the boat rocked back and forth. He heard Jack falling behind him. People screamed, and above that was a scream unlike anything he had heard before. It was scared. Hurt.

Inhuman.

The boat stopped rocking. Reynolds slowly righted himself.

"Jack, hold the wheel for me will you?"

Jack carefully got up from the floor, afraid that the boat would start rocking again. He took the wheel and Reynolds hurried onto the deck.

There were people scattered everywhere like bowling pins. A couple of children started crying and a few people just sat there, groaning.

Reynolds ran back upstairs, "We need the doctor! Where is he?"

A man walked out of the janitor's closet, looking slightly embarrassed, and Reynold hurried him to the deck. He handed out first aid packs and then began looking around the ship for damage.

A few people ran up to him, "What's going on? What happened? Is everything alright?"

Reynolds ignored them and continued searching the ferry. Finally, he found what he was looking for.

On the left side of the ferry, there was a gigantic dent. It was deep; it almost looked like it had punched right through. There was blood in the water too, but whatever hit the boat must have been dead by now. Nothing could have survived a crash like that…

Suddenly, a woman behind him screamed, "There's something in the water!"

Reynolds ran over to where the woman was standing and leaned over the edge of the ferry. His face drained of all colour. He turned around and ran back upstairs.

"Jack! We need a net! Now!"

* * *

Laura held on for dear life as the boat shook, and she felt like her body was being ripped to pieces. People around her were knocked over and pushed into the side of the boat, and one person nearly fell on top of her. Then the rocking slowly stopped. Laura waited for a moment, and then slowly got up.

It was a disaster. People were lying on the deck groaning and people were huddling together in fear. At least it looked like no-one had fallen off the boat…

"There's something in the water!"

People turned towards the direction of the scream. Laura heard the captain yell out something inside, and people began to move towards the left side of the ferry.

Laura pushed through the crowd that was leaning over to have a look.

"What is it?" She asked the man beside him.

"Dunno" he replied, "People are saying it's one of those monsters…"

Laura kept pushing through the crowd until she could see what was going on. The captain was hauling something up in a net. Several people around her were whispering,

"What is it?"

"It's hideous!"

"It's one of those things…"

Laura got a little bit closer. The captain pulled up the net and several people gasped as the thing in the net fell onto the deck.

Laura stared. It was one of the creatures alright. It had gills, sharp claws, four legs and a tail. A long, spiky spine ran down its back, and it was roughly the size of a human.

_A lot bigger than Nimrod, _Laura thought.

She was about to turn around to go and find Rich, when her eyes strayed to the creature's front leg. She squinted at it for a moment, and then gasped.

She could recognise that bracelet anywhere.

* * *

I'm sure you can all guess what's happened…but you'll have to wait till chapter six to see what happens next…

Thanks to Nimster57, Celandine, DarkPsion and Ruby Maggot, once again, for your reviews!


	6. Escape

Big demand on this chapter…I really hope it meets everyone's expectations…might not write another chapter for a while because of school so you'd all better like this one!

Disclaimer: One day, I dream that we will all own Surface so we can rise up and tell those broadcasters to hurry up with the second season, but until then I do not own it.

* * *

Escape.

"Miles" Laura whispered.

The woman beside her turned, "Did you just say Miles?"

Laura blinked, "Pardon?"

"Miles? Do you know Miles Barnett?"

Laura frowned, "Yes. We were trapped on top of a church together after the tsunami. Why?"

The woman's eyes brimmed with tears, "I'm his mother."

She clutched Laura's jacket, "Do you know where he is? Is he okay?"

Laura glanced at the creature now on deck, "Um…we got separated…"

The woman groaned, "Oh, I wish that stupid lizard had never come into our house!"

Laura bit her lip and glanced around. Where was Nimrod anyway? Didn't he usually stick by Miles?

"That thing was a menace…" the woman continued "Its done something to him, it has. He used to be Miles, and now he's a killer and a mutant, according to the rest of the world. Oh God…I miss him so much…"

Laura stood there for a moment, unsure what to do, and then she rested her hand on Mrs. Barnett's shoulder,

"He misses you too" she said, "He misses you a lot"

Mrs. Barnett's eyes once again welled up with tears and she wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry. I'm just so worried about him" Laura took another glance at the creature on deck, "It's alright. I'm sure he's fine"

The woman gave her a weary smile, "Thank you." Then she walked away, back into the crowd.

* * *

Laura heard a groan. She whirled around and saw Miles rolling a little on the ground in what Laura assumed was pain. The spines on his back quivered and she watched as his eyes began to dart back and forth, searching the crowd for someone, anyone, who would help him. His eyes rested on her, but then he shut them and groaned again, his tail twitching a little with every spasm of pain.

"It's alive!" someone shouted, "Oh God! It's alive!"

There was a bit of mass panic. People began screaming and shouting, and Laura was pushed backwards as people began to run away from the horrifying thing that had killed so many people. A few people stayed behind and stared at the creature. One man stood up on a stool and faced the crowd,

"People! People! Stop panicking! This thing isn't going anywhere anytime soon…"

The panic began to die down. The man paused, and the continued,

"How many of you have lost family members because of these things? How many of you have almost been killed yourselves?"

The crowd murmured, and a few people shouted "Me!"

"Well, now's the time to get them back! We have one of their kind at our disposal!"

The crowd began to murmur again, and Laura knew there was going to be trouble. People began to shout,

"Let's kill it!"

"Those things killed my kids!"

"Hey, you think that $10,000 reward still stands?"

Someone came out of the crowd and kicked the bundle. The crowd cheered and Miles gave a weak moan of pain.

_Stop! _Laura felt like shouting, _Stop! He's a human being!_

"Hey! Hey!" the captain was shouting, "Stop it right now!"

The crowd didn't hold back. They began streaming towards Miles, and Laura heard several people hitting what they thought was the enemy.

Laura pushed through the crowd and tried to get to Miles, but the crowd kept pushing her back. She heard someone shouting "Stop! Stop!" then realised it was her own voice. She was rushing to Miles, but the crowd was stronger. It was pushing her away…

Suddenly a gunshot was fired into the air, the shot causing the very air to quiver.

The captain stood beside Miles, holding up a gun. The crowd backed off and the captain lowered it.

"Good. Now that I have your attention…"

He reached behind him and showed the crowd a bundle of chains. "These chains are going to be placed on this…thing…to restrain it. When we find land we are taking it in for testing and perhaps a dissection…"

Laura stared at him in horror. _Miles is going to be cut apart!_

"…until then, no-one is to come near this creature. I repeat _no-one_. I see anyone come near it and you will be thrown off the boat. This thing has taken enough damage as it is, and we don't want to send it to the lab in a cardboard box"

Laura heard a swishing of water. She made sure no-one was watching her, and then she leaned over the side to have a look. Nimrod was swimming in the water, and he was calling. Calling for Miles.

Laura took one last look at Miles, poor Miles, and then she turned and went to find Rich.

They were getting off this ferry.

* * *

Caitlin felt the boat rock. She reached out to grab something, anything, but then the boat rocked again and she was thrown into the wall. Something broke her landing, but Caitlin didn't have time to wonder as she clutched onto a lifesaving ring and held on for dear life.

When the boat stopped rocking, she realised she was lying on someone. She got up quickly and turned to them, embarrassed.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry…are you okay?"

The boy she had fallen on lifted his head, "Caitlin!"

Caitlin stared for a moment, and then inwardly groaned. _Oh no…_

"Phil…hi…"

Phil stood up and dusted himself off, "I thought you were stuck at Miles's place. I thought you guys were goners…"

"Nah. We managed to get to the top of a church when the tsunami hit"

"Where's Miles? Last time I saw him he'd jumped off the ferry to go rescue you"

Caitlin blushed a little, "Um…well…I don't know…"

Phil stared at her, "What do you mean, you don't know?"

Caitlin bit her lip, "Uh…well…he…"

Phil shook his head, "Don't tell me. He had Nimrod trouble?"

Caitlin hesitated, and then nodded. Phil sighed, "Geez, if school wasn't bad enough. I mean, it was shocking what he did to Greg, and no pun intended. Mobs and gangs hanging outside his house, man! As if he didn't have enough problems before Nim, what with his family and all"

Caitlin nodded distractedly. Something was happening further down the ferry. People began screaming and running towards the other end of the boat. She listened to what the people were shouting,

"Kill it! Kill it!"

"Something happened" she said. Phil looked over and frowned, "What do you think they're doing?"

Suddenly, there was a gunshot. Phil and Caitlin jumped. They heard the captain talking to the crowd that had formed on that side of the ferry. Caitlin caught the words 'dissection' and 'lab'.

_The creatures…they must have one of the creatures…_

"Do you think they have one of the creatures?" asked Phil, saying exactly what Caitlin had been thinking.

"I don't know. Should we go and find out?"

Phil nodded. They made their way to the end of the ferry.

* * *

"Laura!" cried Rich as she walked up to him, "Laura! Are you alright? When the boat shook, I was so worried…"

Laura stared at him sadly, "They've pulled one of the creatures up"

"Really? Is that what hit the boat?"

Laura was silent. Rich frowned, "Laura, what's wrong?"

Laura glanced at the people around her in case anyone was listening, "They've pulled _him _up Rich"

Rich gaped at her, "You don't mean…he found us?"

Laura glanced around again, and then nodded, "They're going to take him to a lab to be tested once they find land"

Rich bit his lip, and then turned around, "We have to get off this boat. Where's Caitlin?"

Laura looked around, then spotted Caitlin walking up the ferry. She grabbed Rich's arm and pulled him towards her,

"Caitlin! Caitlin!"

Caitlin looked around for a moment, then spotted Rich and Laura. She walked towards them,  
"Laura! Rich! What happened?"

"They pulled one of the creatures up" said Laura.

"Told you" came a new voice. Next to Caitlin was a boy, around Miles's age, with freckles and light brown hair. Laura frowned at him, "Who are you?"

The boy frowned back, "Who are you?"

Caitlin's cheeks turned red. She gestured to the boy, "This is Phil. He's Miles's friend. This is Laura and Rich"

Phil smiled, "Hi"

Laura turned back to Caitlin, "Caitlin, we need to talk. Now"

Caitlin took the hint. She turned to Phil, "Phil, I need a moment"

Phil nodded and walked away. When he was out of earshot, Laura turned back to Caitlin, "Caitlin, Miles is here"

Caitlin gasped, "Where? Where is he? Is he…"

"He's not good Caitlin" interrupted Rich "The creature they pulled up. It's him"

Caitlin turned pale, "No… it can't be…"

"Caitlin, they are planning to take him to a lab to run some tests when they find land. We need to get him off the ferry"

Caitlin gulped. She'd only just got here, and now she had to leave again. Leave her dad, "Are you sure it's Miles?"

"Yes" said Laura "He's got the bracelet"

"How are we going to get him off the ferry?"

"I think I have an idea" said a voice. The three turned around to see Phil staring at them from behind.

"Phil!" exclaimed Caitlin, "What are you doing here! I told you…"

"You told me you didn't know where Miles was" said Phil, "And then you told me he was having Nim trouble. I'm not stupid Caitlin; I know what's going on. If that creature they pulled up is Miles, I'm willing to help get him off here"

"But you…"

"I'm his best friend. I've been his best friend for god knows how long, and I've stuck with him through this whole Nimrod thing. If he's in trouble, I want to help. And I'm not taking no for an answer"

He walked closer towards them, "I've been on this ferry for a while. I've explored. They said that they were tying the creature up in chains, so we need keys. And I know where they keep them"

Laura and Rich glanced at each other but said nothing. Caitlin looked very uncomfortable. Phil smiled at them, "Am I in?"

Laura thought for a moment, then grinned, "Alright. But we need a plan"

* * *

It was dark. Very dark. But that wasn't surprising, since it was about twelve at night.

Laura opened her eyes and stood up. She quietly tiptoed around the bodies of sleeping people, very careful not to step on any fingers and toes or make a noise that would blow her cover.

She turned on her torch to low beam and scanned the faces as she walked past. She could see the perimeter that the captain had set up around Miles to keep people away. But where was…

_Ah. There you are._

She tiptoed up to Rich and shook him on the shoulder, "Rich…Rich…"

Rich jumped a little and opened his eyes sleepily, "What? Oh, it's you"

He carefully stood up, "Phil should be here any second"

They waited. Then they heard some silent footsteps coming towards them, "I've got the key" said Phil, with a touch of pride in his voice.

"Right. Let's go"

Phil stayed where he was, "Hold on, where is Caitlin?"

"Over here"

Caitlin was coming towards them carrying a first aid kit and a couple of bags of food. They had decided not to take much, just a couple of cans of meat and some sandwiches. They didn't want to take much more from the poor people on the ferry than was needed.

Carefully, silently, the four people stepped over the perimeter and into the circle around Miles. Laura could hear him breathing, occasionally coughing or groaning in his sleep, the chains around his feet clinking with every movement. She carefully moved towards him, aware of his sharp claws, and she positioned herself next to his head. Rich held his hands above his feet, Caitlin was ready to grab the tail and Phil was ready to hold his mouth.

"Ready…go!"

The four of them grabbed Miles. He woke up, startled, and tried to move out of his captors grip. The chains clinked a little louder.

"Miles! Miles! Sssh…it's just us" whispered Caitlin.

Miles abruptly stopped moving. They each released their grip on him and they checked to see if anyone had woken up.

Miles turned to Phil, "Phil?" he croaked. At least his voice still sounded the same.

Phil grinned, "Hey dude. How's it hanging?"

Miles made to lift up his head and winced, "Not good. I think I broke something…"

"You crashed into a ferry man. You must have broken several somethings"

Miles grinned, his lizard-like face looking slightly scary in the light of the moon, "So…you found out"

Phil shrugged, "Hey man, I'm your friend. I'm not going to leave you just because you turned into a giant lizard"

"Nice way of putting it"

"Thanks"

"Nice to see you talking" said Rich, "But we've got to get a move on"

Phil dug into his pockets and pulled out a set of keys, "Here we go. Try not to move"

Miles stayed still while Phil unlocked the chains. Caitlin looked him over,

"You sure you're alright Miles?"

Miles nodded, "Nim's healing powers help. I just need a little rest and I'll be right"

Laura picked up the chains as Phil unlocked them and placed them in random spots in the circle, "So how did you manage to crash into the ferry anyway?"

Miles shook his head, "I don't know. I remember I was swimming…then something attacked me"

Caitlin froze, "Something attacked you?"

"Yeah. I couldn't see where I was going and I got stuck in some weed or something. I was trying to get out and suddenly the weed broke and I was shot forward. Then I crashed into the ferry"

He gulped, "I thought I was going to die. I really did. I remember tasting blood in the water and then I blacked out and I thought I was going to die"

Caitlin hugged his neck, "It's alright" she said, "You're still here. You're still alive"

Phil finished unlocking the last chain and Laura carefully placed it on the ground. It didn't make the slightest noise. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, "Right. Miles, do you think you can get off the ferry?"

Miles tried to get up, but collapsed again wincing in pain. Laura sighed, "Perhaps not. Alright Phil, you take his back legs and Caitlin takes the front. Rich and I will get under him"

Caitlin and Phil grabbed Miles and heaved. He was quite light for something that was supposed to kill things ten times their size. Laura and Rich got underneath him and they carefully lifted him over the boat.

"One…two…three…go!"

They dropped him and Miles landed with a loud splash in the water. Several people stirred on deck, but no-one woke up.

"Miles?"

Miles poked his head out from the water, "I'm alright. I'm alright" he gave them a lopsided grin, "Thanks for saving me guys"

He made to turn away, but Caitlin stopped him, "Oh no you don't Miles. We're coming with you this time"

Miles stared at her, "What?"

"We can't stay here. People are going to ask questions, and we might get sprung"

Miles nodded, "Okay. Throw yourselves down. I can take you on my back"

Caitlin nodded. She steadied herself, and then lowered herself into the water. She made it with barely a splash. Rich and Laura followed suit.

Phil leaned over the edge, "Guys? You aren't just going to go now are you?"

Rich nodded, "Afraid so. Thanks for the help man"

"No, wait! Aren't I going too? I help you escape didn't I?"

The four exchanged glances. Caitlin looked up, "Sorry Phil. But we need you to cover for us. People won't believe that the fact the creature and us are both missing is just coincidence"

Phil looked to Miles, "Come on man, I want to go with you. I want to fight right by your side man"

Miles looked at the others, and then back to Phil, "Sorry Phil, but they're right. Unless we have someone to cover for us people will go looking. I wish you could come, but you'll have to fight the battle here instead"

Phil thought for a moment, then shrugged, "Alright. I don't really have much choice do I?"

Caitlin beamed, "Thank you Phil! Thanks so much!"

"Just promise you won't get into too much trouble okay?"

Miles smiled, "We won't. We'll be back"

Phil nodded. Then he whirled around and turned back to them, "People are waking up. You'd better go"

Miles nodded. He turned to the others, "Grab my spine. Not too hard thanks"

Hesitantly, the three people grabbed onto Miles's back and clung there, unsure what to do.

"Sure you can do this?" asked Laura.

Miles nodded. Then he began to swim. Faster and faster he went, Caitlin, Rich and Laura clinging on like their life depended on it.

* * *

Phil watched as his friends disappeared over the horizon. Then he turned and walked back to his sleeping spot.

"Good luck guys" he whispered as he settled down to catch a couple of hours sleep.

Little did he know that he wasn't the only one who had been awake.

* * *

Uh oh…someone's been spying…

Thank you Nimster57, DarkPsion, Ruby Maggot, Crystal Shifter and Ocean Gal (I know who you are…) for reviews!


	7. Plans

This chapter is a little shorter than the rest…it was sort of more of a filler. But I hope you all aren't mad at me…wrings hands anyway, as usual, enjoy chapter seven (Seven? Wow, I'm on a roll!)

Disclaimer: Do I own Surface? checks records No. As far as I know I don't.

* * *

Plans.

"Where are we going?" asked Caitlin.

Miles shrugged, causing Caitlin to rise with his shoulder, "I have no idea. Just keep a lookout for land okay?"

Caitlin sighed. She was tired. She was hungry. She was cold. But she knew that whatever she was feeling, Miles was feeling ten times worse. As much as he tried to hide it, she knew he was still in pain from the ferry. He may have healing powers now, but even with healing powers broken bones can't heal themselves, and Miles had broken several. It was amazing he was still alive.

And there he was, carrying them across the ocean, with no idea where he was going and nothing to hope for. That took guts, and she was glad to have a friend like him.

The hours marched on. And on. And on. The group became less and less hopeful. Miles began to slow down and his movements became less graceful and more struggling. The pain that had been in his chest had moved up to his neck now, and his legs felt like jelly. But he urged himself on.

_Until we find land. Until we find land. You'll be okay when we find land._

"Hey, what's that?" said Laura.

Ahead on them was the flat top of a roof. It was no bigger than the church roof, but Miles felt that if he didn't stop he'd collapse, "I see it. Let's go there"

Miles forced himself that little bit further, and then they were on the roof. Slowly, painfully, he climbed out of the water and onto the roof, Caitlin, Rich and Laura still holding onto his back. He walked forward, and then collapsed where he was. He heard Caitlin shout in alarm then saw no more.

* * *

When Miles woke up, he thought he was back on the church roof. But one quick look of his claws reminded him exactly what had happened. Hey, it wasn't something you could easily forget.

Caitlin and the others were sitting a little further away from him, eating. He pulled himself up and went towards them.

Caitlin heard the shuffling and looked up, "Miles! Are you alright?"

She dropped her sandwich and went to help him. He stopped, panting a little.

"I'm fine" he said, "Just a little stiff still. I'll be better soon enough"

He dragged himself over to the edge of the roof. "Are you hungry?" asked Caitlin.

Miles dipped his head into the water and brought up a fish. Caitlin watched in mild disgust as Miles swallowed it whole.

"Guess not" she said jokingly.

Miles gave her an embarrassed look, "Uh…sorry…"

Laura and Rich were also staring at him oddly. He recoiled a little, conscious of just how irregular he looked. Irregular? No, totally freaking different was the word. Unsure what to do, he stood there, waiting for one of then to say something.

Laura smiled and gestured to him, "Come and join us. No point staying there all day"

Miles silently let out a sigh of relief. Then he dragged himself over to join the group.

* * *

Caitlin watched Miles and noted that he was walking on four legs. _Four legs_. As she ate and talked and watched Miles, sitting there, she wondered about their friendship.

The first changes were creepy, but superhero-ish. The change on the roof was scary. But this…this thing that sat before her that looked like a giant lizard but still looked like a normal teenage boy…it was horrifying. I mean, how many people did she know who walked around on four legs and had a tail?

But it wasn't really that. She could live with it because it was Miles and she loved him. It was the fear that got to her.

When Miles had left before, she had known he would come back. But now he could leave at anytime and maybe never come back. She had feared it before, but now it seemed to be on a much larger scale. And if he left, what would she do?

Miles caught her looking at him and smiled. It was a bizarre kind of smile, not quite meant for the face it was on. But it was a smile nonetheless.

Miles had seen Caitlin looking at him and knew something was troubling her. In situations like this he would place his arm on her shoulder, but seeing as this was rather difficult for him he made an attempt to put his tail over her shoulder instead. It ended up looking quite cartoon-ish, and Caitlin couldn't help laugh. Laura and Rich glanced over and laughed too. And so they all laughed, and once again it seemed that everything was going to be alright.

* * *

Phil was quietly sitting on the ferry eating his rations when he heard footsteps coming towards him.

"Phil" said Miles's mother.

Phil looked up at her, "Hello Mrs. Barnett. How are you today?"

To Phil's surprise, Mrs. Barnett leaned close and grabbed Phil by the collar of his shirt,

"Phil, where is Miles?"

Phil's blood ran cold. He began to sweat a little, "I don't know what you're…"

Mrs. Barnett looked him in the eye, "I know you know where he is Phil. I saw you last night. I heard you. You helped him get off the ferry"

Phil gulped. _Busted_.

"I can explain Mrs. Barnett…"  
"When did he get on the ferry? How come we didn't see him?"

Phil bit his lip, "Um…well…you might have seen him…"

"What do you mean?"

"He's not completely himself at the moment…"

"Spit it out Phil! Where is my son?"

Phil sighed. Then he told her.

* * *

Laura surveyed the group around her. She cleared her throat.

"Right. We need to think of a plan, and we need to find this virus. The creatures are starting tsunamis everywhere, and if we are going to stop them we need to stop them soon. Any ideas?"

"Well" said Rich, "First we have to find Iderdex"

"Right" said Laura. She picked up a rock next to her and drew in the concrete,

"This is Iderdex" she said, pointing to a little circle, "Now, we went this way…" she drew a line from the circle, "And met you two" she gestured to Miles and Caitlin. She drew more lines, "We drove this way, so the church would be here. When we were on the raft, assuming we _were_ travelling north we should have ended up somewhere here. Then the ferry caught us and the ferry was travelling north-east to us, so we might have ended up about here…" she paused and looked at her collection of scribbles, then turned to Miles,

"Any idea which way we went with you?"

Miles hesitated, then took one of his claws and began to draw on the concrete. The claw left a thin line of white and stopped about a few centimetres from the original circle.

Laura looked at Rich, "Know what this means?"

Rich nodded, "Iderdex is close. That is, _if_ we have the right directions…"

Laura poked her tongue out at him, "Remember what I said about being _optimistic_?"

Rich shrugged, "I'd rather pick logic thanks"

Caitlin was looking at the picture, frowning. Laura looked at her, "What's wrong?"

Caitlin frowned, "Nothing. It's just that…I don't know. Something looks wrong in this"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I feel like we're missing something"

Laura shrugged, "I'm sure we'll figure out something. At least we know the approximate area where Iderdex is, we can start looking tomorrow"

Miles looked at the drawing and then up at Laura. Half of him wanted to find the virus and kill the creatures before they could do anything else, but the other half of him didn't want to find the virus at all. "Do we really need to find this virus? Why can't we just…I don't know…try negotiating?"

His argument sounded pretty weak even to his ears. Laura sighed, "I'm sorry Miles. For now the virus is our only option"

"But if we release it, it will wipe out an entire species. An entire species that could help us"

Rich turned to him, "Look Miles, we might not release the virus. We might not have to. But the point is, until we know what is going on we have to have an attack ready"

Miles's face was somewhere between sadness and anger. Caitlin was weary, she didn't know just how strong Miles was but if he could stand up to Greg who knew what he could do to Rich. She watched as an electric spark flew from Miles to Rich, and struck him. Rich cried out and fell over, the pain flying through his chest as the electric spark jolted his nerves.

Laura stared at Miles in horror, "What did you do?"

Miles recoiled back, shocked at his own actions, "I…I don't know…I didn't mean to…"

Rich had fallen right beside the picture Laura had drawn. He recovered a little, it was a small shock, but then he noticed something.

"Forget about it Miles. Laura, come and see this"

Laura, puzzled, came over and looked at the picture. Rich pointed to the line Miles had drawn, "That was where Caitlin saw the roof right? Didn't she see it to her left?"

Laura remembered something. Caitlin did see the roof to her left. So that meant…

She traced her finger down a new line that had appeared in her mind. She looked up at Miles and Caitlin.

"We don't need to look for Iderdex" she said. Her finger was resting on the little circle.

"We're standing on top of it"

* * *

Oooh…now we're getting somewhere…

Sorry this took a while, my internet busted. But its here now and the next one should follow soon! Thank you to DarkPsion, williamjamesw, 2footnim, neri gilmore and Nimster57 for reviews and SkyHighFan for your kind suggestions!


	8. Iderdex

Gosh, I didn't think this story would last so long! Glad it did though, and I'm sure you all are too! This chapter would have come sooner but I could only post it tonight (Remember my stuffed internet? Now it's really busted) and future chapters might run a bit late…

In this chapter, one of the characters is called 'Samantha'. I won't reveal who it is yet, but if somebody knows her real first name (if there is one) please tell me! And, as usual, enjoy!

BTW, art lines are down and I had to replace this chapter...just bear with me.

Disclaimer: I did not own Surface a chapter ago, and I doubt that I own Surface now.

---

Iderdex.

Miles, Caitlin, Rich and Laura all stared at the little circle on the concrete.

"It doesn't mean anything" Rich said, "This is just a guess"

"A lucky guess" said Miles, "I say we start exploring"

"What do you mean exploring?" said Caitlin, "It's not like we can get in there. It probably goes under the water for miles, and we don't even have any diving gear"

Laura and Rich turned to Miles. Miles sighed, "Why do I have the feeling you want me to go down alone?"

Laura put her hands together, "Please Miles. You are the only one who can go down that deep underwater and still be able to breathe. All you have to do is take a look around and see if you can find anything that might have the virus"

Miles looked at Laura sceptically, "And what exactly can you hold a virus in?"

Laura shrugged, "I don't know. An airtight container, an ice cube, worst comes to worst maybe even a body"

Caitlin clasped her hand over her mouth, "A body?" she squeaked.

"But they probably didn't do that" said Laura hastily, "The point is, just keep an eye out, alright?"

Miles nodded. To tell the truth he was a little scared at what he'd find down there, but then he thought, _How bad could it be?_

The image of several drowned bodies entered his mind but he quickly pushed it away. He wasn't a vulnerable kid anymore, he could handle it.

"I'll do it" he said. But his heart was heavy.

_What if I do find the virus? What if it means death for my kind?_

_My kind. You have to be kidding me._

_---_

A few minutes later, Miles was underwater. As he got deeper, he shivered. The water was really, really cold down here.

_Must be getting close._

He swam down a bit deeper, not noticing that even though it got darker he could still see perfectly. The water was getting colder and colder. Soon he had made it to the bottom of the building and he hesitated before swimming through a hole in the wall.

Inside the building, Miles could feel the water vibrating. He looked around and saw giant containers with little screens sitting in rows along the floor. He went over and studied one of the screens which was showing pictures of various animals.

_Looks like these are the cryogenics stores_, He thought, _and they're still working._

He was surprised. He had expected the tsunami to have destroyed Iderdex, and yet here it was, busted on the outside but still working on the inside. They must have had good defence against the towering wave, but not quite enough to keep the wave out. Funnily enough, looking at all the cryogenic stores, Miles didn't feel in the least bit sorry for whoever was in here when the tsunami hit.

Miles continued down the corridor. Cryogenics stores stretched beyond him left and right. Eventually he came to an open area and swam up.

In front of him was a big, deep tunnel. A really, really big, deep tunnel.

_Whoa…where does that go?_

Miles was about to swim down to find out, when he heard something. Or rather, he heard it in his mind.

_Hello…hello…_

Miles stopped. He could have imagined it, but he could have sworn he had heard something. He decided to have a look, just in case. And so he reluctantly left the big hole and headed in the direction of the 'voice'. It turned out to be a very wise decision.

_Hello…hello…_

Miles weaved through the building and ended up back outside. He rounded a corner and stopped.

In front of him was a giant creature. It was almost a splitting image of Nimrod, except it was a hundred times bigger. To Miles it even looked a _million_ times bigger.

He looked down and blushed. It was a female to.

_Hello…is anyone there?_

_Over here!_

The creature turned around, and Miles reflected that he had probably done the stupidest thing in his short life.

The creature started to swim towards him, _Can you help me?_

Miles quickly swam backwards. The creature stopped.

_It's alright. I won't hurt you._

_What do you want?_

_I want to find my family._

The creature looked at Miles sadly, and Miles couldn't help feeling sorry for it.

_Do you know if there are any others around here?_

The creature shook its head, _No. You and I are the only ones._

Miles couldn't help feeling uneasy with that sentence.

_Who are you?_

The creature lowered its head and said nothing. There was something about this creature that made Miles curious. He studied it for a moment, and then noticed its front leg. One of its claws didn't look quite right. He studied it closer, and almost cried out in alarm.

It was a human finger.

Miles looked up at the creature, which was still avoiding his gaze. _You're human. You're human, like me!_

The creature looked up, _You're human! Oh thank god, I though I was the only one! What's your name?_

_Miles. Miles Barnett._

The creature nodded, _Samantha Morris. I used to work for the people who owned this place._

Miles shook his head, _Wait, you worked here?_

_Well, not here…I've been here a few times though. I was swimming by and thought I'd check for survivors…_she glanced around…_although we're so deep down I don't think there would be any._

_Do you know about a virus?_

The creature froze, _How do you know about the virus?_

_I was stranded with these other people on a roof, and then this boat wreck floated past and we found these documents…_

Samantha, _so you know about them being man made?_

Miles nodded, and then took another glance at the finger. Samantha noticed him looking and sighed.

_I supposed you want to know how it happened?_

Miles looked up, _No! It's just…_

_It would probably be better if I told you anyway. Then you'd know what you were up against._

_I used to work for a very tight, strict secret firm. They were dedicated to science and only employed the smartest people, but the company policy was a strict confidentiality. In return I got unlimited funds and a chance to test my research. But then I got into contact with someone else, and I told her about the creatures and how I'd helped to create them. Eventually, someone came to get me._

Miles frowned. There was something his mind was trying to piece together, but he couldn't quite place it…

_When they came to get me, I thought they were going to kill me. But instead, they injected me with a needle and pushed me into the ocean. And this is what happened. Torture and an easy way to shut someone up in one go._

Miles was stunned, _But this is like…years ahead of our science…_

Samantha snorted, _Kid, we cloned pandas way before Dolly. Genetic mutation is a walk in the park for us._

Samantha studied Miles, _Usually; when you are genetically mutated you have some tiny mutation, like this finger. But you are flawless. What happened to you?_

_Uh…_Miles's tail began to twitch_...I was…I got…_

Suddenly, Miles's brain put two and two together and he looked up at Samantha, _You wouldn't have contacted Laura Daughtery?_

Samantha, _Yes. How do you know that?_

_She's up on the roof. Right now._

Samantha looked at him for a moment, puzzled, and then she broke into a grin, _Are you serious? This is great!_

_I was supposed to come down to look for the virus. The others are waiting for me up there. If I go back and tell them…_

Samantha stopped him, _You can tell them, but first I'll help you find the virus. I've been here for a while, and I know this place like the back of my hand…or fin, _she said with a hint of amusement.

She gestured to Miles and swam away. Miles followed, and soon they ended up back at the 'tunnel'.

_Are we going down there?_

_No. That leads to Marinas Trench. There has been a monorail going down there for ages. Apparently they were going to hide there for the tsunami and come out afterwards to finish the job._

_What's 'the job'?_

_No idea. I'll tell you now; no-one knew the full plan for these things. I may have helped create them but I had no idea what they would be used for._

She swam past the tunnel and stopped by one of the cryogenics stores.

_Here's the one. Shit…I can't open it…_

She was fumbling with some buttons with her over-sized claws. Miles swam over and offered his smaller claws instead.

_What do I put in?_

_12…1…13…2…_

Miles pressed the buttons on the pad and there was a click as the store opened. The lid popped up and an airtight tube stood in the middle of the store with a dial on it. It was set on number 1.

_It's number four._

Miles turned a dial until the number read 4. The tube popped down, and when it came back up there was a metal cylinder inside. Samantha pushed a button and the cylinder was pushed out. Water quickly began to fill the tube.

_Take it! Quick!_

Miles grabbed the cylinder in his mouth and pushed the lid back on the cryogenics store. There was another click as the lid was locked on and the store was once again sealed.

Miles grinned through the container in his mouth, _Thanks! I'd better be getting up now though._

Samantha nodded. Miles was about to swim up towards the surface, when he changed his mind and came back down.

_I'll tell them about you. _He said, _And then I'll come right back to get you. We'll find your family again Samantha._

Samantha smiled, _Thank you Miles! Better hurry now, they're probably worried about you!_

Miles swam up to the surface. Samantha watched him, eyes full of hope.

_Maybe it will be all right._

She didn't know what would happen next.

---

Caitlin, Laura and Rich were all getting pretty worried, until Miles jumped out of the water and landed on the roof.

"Miles!" shouted Rich, "You're back! Any luck?"

Miles nodded, and then he spat the metal cylinder out of his mouth. It rolled across the roof, then stopped at Laura's feet. She picked it up and looked at it.

"Nice technology" she said, "Are you sure this has the virus?"

Miles nodded, "Yes. I'm sure. She told me"

Caitlin frowned, "Who told you? Is someone down there?"

"I…"

Suddenly, Miles started to gag. He keeled over and his claws began to grab madly for his throat.

"Miles!" shouted Caitlin in alarm.

Miles backed up, then tripped and fell backwards into the water. The others ran to the edge of the water and peered down below the surface.

"Miles!" shouted Laura, "Miles!"

Bubbles began to rise in the water. Laura jumped up, pulled her shirt off and dived into the water. Caitlin and Rich sat at the edge of the water, waiting, and then Laura bobbed her head out of the water. Miles appeared beside her.

"Are you alright?" asked Rich.

Miles coughed. Laura nodded, "We're alright. Miles has got a few scratched on his neck though" she said through chattering teeth, "Can you help us out? It's bloody freezing down here"

Rich and Caitlin pulled Laura and Miles out of the water. Laura wrapped her shirt around Miles neck, where blood was starting to seep from the scratches he had put there. Caitlin hugged him,

"Oh Miles, I was so worried! What happened?"

Miles was about to reply, but instead jumped when a bizarre squawking noise emitted from his throat. Caitlin frowned, "Miles?"

Miles tried to speak again, but again instead of words there was another squawking noise. Whatever colour Caitlin had drained from her face. She grabbed Miles's shoulders and shook him gently,

"Talk to me Miles. Tell me its okay."

Miles stayed silent. Caitlin shook him harder, "Talk to me dammit!"

Miles let out a sad, pitiful wail. Caitlin stopped shaking him, then threw her arms around him and cried.

---

Oh dear. Poor, poor Miles. This makes things a little more complicated. And somewhere in that chapter was a secret code which will be used in future chapters…if anyone can figure it out then PM me and I'll dedicate the next chapter to you! Keep your eyes peeled, because it is a really tough one!

I would like to thank 2footnim, Ruby Maggot and Nimster57 for reviews, as usual. You guys rock!


	9. Virus

Welcome to the ninth chapter folks! It's nice to know there are still people reading after so long! Last chapter Miles lost his voice, leaving poor Samantha in the dark. What will happen in this chapter I wonder…we'll find out about that virus and Miles will realise something…not for the better unfortunately.

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface, nor the various spy movie references in this chapter. James Bond has nothing on me!

---

Virus.

Up on the roof, things were not going very well.

Miles sat in a corner, quietly cursing his predicament. Caitlin, Rich and Laura were each sitting a little further away from him, each slowly creeping into their own depression.

Finally, Laura stood up, "Well, it's no use sitting around here doing nothing. I know we have had a bit of a shock, but Miles gave us the cylinder so now we have to figure out how to open it"

"Why are you talking about him like he's dead?" said Caitlin, frowning over her knees.

Laura bit her lip and glanced at Miles, still sitting there in complete solitude. She had to be careful what she said, things were delicate enough as it was without her stuffing it up.

"Sorry. Sorry. But regardless we still need to figure out this cylinder"

Caitlin continued to stare over her knees, then she slowly nodded her head and stood up. Rich followed suit. Laura nodded,

"Right. Let's take a look at this thing"

There were four dials on the cylinder, each with all the letters of the alphabet engraved on its outer rim. On the top there was a little screen with the numbers 3:00 lit up. On the surface of the cylinder was engraved the number 4.

"Looks like we need a code or something" said Caitlin.

"Well then" said Laura, "Let's start code breaking"

"What about the screen?"

"Probably a number code or something"

She leaned closer to the dials, "If I turn the dials, they should click when they've landed in the right spot"

"Mis-spent youth?" inquired Rich.

Laura smiled, "My dad taught me to do it when he couldn't get into his briefcase"

She leaned close to the dial and was about to turn a dial when Rich stopped her.

"Whoa…hold on a sec…"

He took the cylinder and looked at the screen, "I've seen enough spy movies to bet that this is a timer"

Laura laughed, "A timer for what? A timer for when the cylinder will self-destruct?"

Rich looked at her and nodded. Laura stared at him sceptically,

"You can't be serious"

"You said it yourself! These people won't take any chances"

"Yeah, but self destruct?"

"It doesn't sound that crazy" said Caitlin, "I mean, these people created an entire species. It makes sense that they'd have drastic security measures"

Laura rolled her eyes at Rich, then focused her attention back to the cylinder, "Right. Okay. If we assume that that thing _is _a timer…which I doubt it is…what would the code be?"

Rich thought for a moment, and then clicked his fingers, "What about life? Life is a four letter word, and Iderdex seems to be about creating life and manipulating it to make something better. They needed life to create the creatures, and they'd need life to create the virus"

Laura frowned, "That seems a little too easy…but I guess you're right in a way. It makes a lot of sense"

"Should we try it?" said Caitlin.

"No!" said Rich, "We should look at every possibility first…"

"There aren't many possibilities" pointed out Laura, "We don't have any clues at all. I say we should try it and if it doesn't work we'll think of something else"

Before Rich could protest, Laura began to turn the dials. The cylinder beeped and Laura smiled,

"We did it!" she said. She twisted the top of the cylinder, but it didn't open. Laura frowned, "What…?"

"Laura" said Caitlin, "The screen"

Laura turned the cylinder around and looked at the screen. The 3:00 had changed colour, and it slowly began to count down.

2:99…2:98…2:97…

"I told you it was a timer!" said Rich, "I told you!"

"Okay, let's not panic" said Laura, "Maybe it's just a security alarm, don't open it in three minutes and it sets off an alarm"

"We can't risk it" said Caitlin, "Let's say this thing will explode if we don't figure out the code. What are the possible combinations?"

"Well…" said Rich, "There are twenty six letters in the alphabet, and four dials. Twenty six times four…"

"One hundred and eight" said Laura, "That's one hundred and eight letters. Twenty six possible combinations per dial, and then there is the probability of then being the wrong combination…"

"That's a hell of a lot of combinations" said Rich, "And we don't have time to sort them. We need something now"

2:71…2:70…

The group thought for a moment, then Laura remembered something, "Remember that woman who told us about the creatures?"

Rich nodded. Laura tried to think, "Before she drugged me she said something…a poem…"

"What was it? What was it?"

"I don't know…um…when the star threw down them something…and something heaven with their tears…is his smiling work to see…oh I don't know!"

"Oh! I know it!" said Caitlin. She cleared her throat,

"_When the stars threw down their spears,_

_And watered heaven with their tears,_

_Did he smile his work to see?_

_Did he who made the land make thee?_"

"That's it!" said Laura, "What's it called…"

"The Tyger by William Blake" said Caitlin, "We were working on it in English a while ago and I learnt it off by heart"

"But that doesn't mean anything!" said Rich, "If it did, wouldn't she have told it to you while you were awake?"

"Maybe she didn't think we'd get that far" said Laura, "At the moment it's all we've got"

"So the code is Tyger?"

"Too many letters. What else can we get from that?"

"First and last letter of every line" said Caitlin.

"What, WADD and SSEE?"

"Could be initials for something"

Laura turned the dials and tried to open the cylinder. It didn't work.

2:36…2:35…

"The number four. Four dials, four lines, cylinder 4"

"Doesn't work"

2:29…2:28…

"Okay…name all the four letter words"

"When…star…down…with…tear…" Laura turned the dials frantically but none of the words worked. The cylinder remained shut.

1:55…1:54…

"There has to be something we've missed" said Laura. _Some forgotten detail…_

"Drug" said Rich, "The firm has patents on drugs and that's how they get their money"

"It's not working!"

1:45…1:44…

"Okay" said Laura, "We need to think rationally. Panic clouds the mind. We need to stay calm"

Miles had lifted his head and was watching them with a half-pained, half-hopeful expression on his face. Laura glanced over at him and he stared back.

_If you know Miles…please tell us…_

"Wait!" said Caitlin.

"What is it?" said Laura, her eyes now on the screen.

0:51…

"There's a word missing!" Caitlin cried, "The poems' wrong!"

"Well, what is it!"

0:45…

"It's the last sentence…it's not land, it's…"

"It's what!"

0:37…

"It's lamb! It's lamb!"

Laura stood there, baffled for a minute, and then came to her senses.

_Of course…it makes sense…_

0:28…

She quickly turned the dials. There was a small click and the cylinder popped open. The screen didn't stop.

0:10…

Laura reached into the cylinder and pulled out a small vial, and then she quickly threw the cylinder away, into the water.

3…2…1…

The cylinder landed with a 'plop' in the water. Nothing happened for a second, but then it exploded, causing the water to burst upwards and come raining down over the group. There was another small 'boom!' and then the movement ceased.

The group stayed like that for a moment, and then Rich spoke up.

"Self destruct. What did I tell you?"

---

Samantha Morris looked up at the surface impatiently, and then continued to swim back and forth.

_Where is Miles? Why is he taking so long? Has he forgotten me?_

Sho shook her head, _No, he wouldn't do that. Still…_

She looked up again. Up there were the only people who could possibly save her, perhaps even the world, from the creatures. They needed to know the code to open the cylinder if they were going to use the virus, and they needed it quick. Because the creatures were moving, Samantha could feel it, and something big was going to happen if they didn't stop it.

Making a final decision, she began to swim up.

---

"We did it!" shouted Laura, holding the vial triumphantly in her hand, "We got the virus!"

Miles lowered his head and debated whether this was a good thing.

On the up side, they could destroy these creatures forever. No more trouble and no more deaths.

On the down side, they could also destroy Nimrod. And _him._

It hadn't dawned on him until then, but if they released the virus they could kill him along with the other creatures. It was a horrifying thought. What about his parents, his sister, Phil, Caitlin? Especially Caitlin. She'd already been through so much, and if he died what would she do?

_I can't let on…_he thought…_if they release the virus then I'll go. It would be for the best anyway._

The he remembered he didn't really have a choice, as he couldn't talk.

_This has taken away everything from me. _Miles thought, looking once more at his fins, _it's taken my life._

Suddenly, something jumped up out of the water.

---

Rich jumped as there was an ear-splitting roar. He whirled around and gasped as one of the creatures jumped out of the water. It was one of the adult ones, huge and ferocious with a giant, gaping jaw and huge sharp teeth. Just like in his dream…

Without thinking, he grabbed the vial and threw it at the creature.

---

Samantha didn't quite mean to jump out like that, in her impatience she'd been swimming too fast. She saw Miles, huddled in a corner, watching her. She saw a girl, about fifteen years old, looking up in horror. And she saw Dr. Daughtery holding something in her hand, and then another man shout something and grab whatever was in her hand and throw it at her.

Her eyes widened as she saw what it was.

---

Miles watched as Samantha jumped out of the water, and Rich threw the vial.

_No!_

Faster than he thought possible, Miles jumped up and grabbed for the vial. He felt one fin close in on it.

_Don't break…please don't break…_

Then Miles realised he was flying through the air. Below him was concrete.

_Shit…please don't break…_

Miles curled into a ball and braced himself. He slammed into the concrete and felt a couple of bones crack. He bit his lip, causing it to bleed because his teeth were now razor sharp, and tried to ignore the pain as his body tried to heal itself.

_Please don't be broken…please don't be broken…_

He opened his fin, and his face fell as he saw something wedged into the webbing between his claws. It looked like a piece of glass.

_Damn. It broke._

As he wondered what death was going to be like, he heard Laura shouting something behind him.

"What did you do that for Rich? The vial could have broken!"

"Sorry Laura, but if you didn't noticed one of those things just jumped out of the water and tried to kill us! If Miles hadn't jumped, we could have released the virus!"

_Hold on. If the virus hasn't been released yet…that means…_

Miles glanced over and saw the vial lying a little further away from him. He turned his attention back to his fin, where a stone had become dislodged as his fin fixed itself.

_Phew. That was close._

_---_

That was close wasn't it? I bet you all thought Miles was a goner!

I would like to dedicate this chapter to peppaoceangal, who figured out the code from last chapter! Congrats!

Just for the rest of you, the code was 'lamb'. Match up the numbers that Miles used to get the virus in chapter 8 to letters of the alphabet and it spells lamb, which is coincidentally the code for the cylinder. Ha Ha!

I would also like to thank 2footnim (I'm a dudet by the way), DarkPsion, Ruby Maggot and Spastic Basket Case for reviewing!


	10. Goodbyes

Oh dear…it's the chapter I've been dreading. THE TENTH CHAPTER IS HERE!

In this chapter, we finally solve the problem with the creatures. But will it be with the virus or not? I apologise in advance for people who hate mushy-ness and chick-flick moments because there is a lot in this chapter. Hey, what can you do? Miles couldn't just say 'goodbye' and go could he?

Well, I hope you all enjoyed the adventure so far and will enjoy THE TENTH CHAPTER!

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface. Can I go now?

---

Goodbyes.

"What did you do that for Rich? The vial could have broken!"

"Sorry Laura, but if you didn't noticed one of those things just jumped out of the water and tried to kill us! If Miles hadn't jumped, we could have released the virus!"

Laura took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. But if that had broken, we might have been making a big mistake" she picked up the vial and watched as the liquid inside rolled around, "One drop of this stuff could spread something bigger than the plague. And there is nothing to stop it"

Rich nodded. He glanced over to Miles, "Why the hell did he do that anyway?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Caitlin, "He doesn't want any of them to get hurt"

She glanced at the vial, "How did you know the code was lamb?"

"It was simple" said Laura, "The poem was referring to the Lamb of God. And the first thing the firm cloned was a lamb. It actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it"

Caitlin nodded, "Clever"

Laura studied the liquid in the vial, "The question now is, what do we do now?"

Rich frowned, "What else can we do? These creatures are going to sink the world, and they are getting faster. We have to release the virus"

Miles lifted his head and growled. Caitlin felt a knot tie itself in her chest, "What, just release it like that? Without trying anything else?"

"We can't afford to have the creatures sink us all" said Laura, "We have to release the virus now"

"No!" said Caitlin, now starting to panic, "You can't!"

"We have to Caitlin" said Rich, "It's the only way"

Miles hissed and Caitlin felt the air fill with static. Her hair stood on end.

"But what if we got Miles to negotiate with the creatures? He…"

"Caitlin, those things are about fifty times bigger than he is. If he does anything they might tear him to pieces!"

"But we can't kill them!" said Caitlin. The argument was quickly getting out of hand. She didn't want to release the virus, she had just planned to keep it as a backup. Why had she been so stupid?

"Caitlin, if we don't millions of people will die!" shouted Rich, "If we release the virus at least we can save them!"

Caitlin glared at him, "This isn't about saving people" she said, "This is about your brother. You can't bear the fact that the thing that killed your brother could change"

"Rich!" shouted Laura, "Caitlin! Stop it! We won't get anywhere fighting like this!"

"What if you were one of them!" said Caitlin, "Would you want to die because you did something you didn't know was wrong!"

The suddenly it dawned on her. It came to her in a blinding flash, and she felt like she was going to be sick

"And what about Miles?" she said, "If we release the virus we'll kill _him_! And what if there are others like him? What if we kill them too?"

Laura and Rich were silent. They hadn't really thought about that.

"But what else can we do?" asked Laura, "If we don't release the virus then everyone else will die. Either way we're stuffed"

Caitlin frowned and bit her lip. Behind her, Miles was staring at something in the water.

---

Miles heard something behind him and turned around. Nimrod had popped his head above the water and was talking to him.

_Are you coming?_

The voice was nothing like he imagined Nimrod to sound like. It was young, but it had a hidden intelligence that he knew was way beyond him.

_Coming where?_

_Home. Are you coming home?_

Miles stared at him. _Where is home?_ He thought to himself, _home is buried under miles of water. Home was with my family._

He thought of Virginia. She'd never get to see her family again unless someone stopped these creatures. But how? Laura was right, one wrong move and Miles would be torn to bits, and he didn't want Nimrod or anyone to get killed either.

_Sometimes life screws with us_, he thought, _and when that happens there is only one way out of it. _He turned to Nimrod,_ Yes. I'm coming home._

_---_

Caitlin heard Miles behind her. She turned around and Miles squawked at her and gestured to the water. Laura and Rich stared at him, "What's he saying?"

Caitlin stared at him, "He wants to go after the creatures" she said after a moment, "He wants to negotiate"

Miles nodded. Rich frowned at her, "How do you know that?"

Caitlin turned to him and stared him straight in the eyes, "Because I know Miles. And Miles wouldn't want anyone to get hurt"

She took a deep breath, "I say we let Miles go. If he is successful, we won't need the virus. If not…" she gulped, "…we release it and save the world"

Laura cast a worried glance at Miles, then turned back to Caitlin, "Alright. But if anything happens to him…"

Caitlin shivered. She knew perfectly well what would happen if Miles never came back. But she just had to put on a brave face and live with it, because she knew Miles would be going whether she liked it or not.

---

Miles crouched in the middle of the group as they gathered on the edge of the building.

_This is goodbye_, he thought, _the real thing this time._

Laura leaned down and hugged him, "Miles, It's been great. I hope you make it"

Suddenly, he remembered the braclet. They'd forgotten to take it off at the ferry, so now he gripped it carefully in his teeth and pulled it off. He handed it to her, and her eyes widened with surprise. A few tears escaped from her eyes and she took the braclet back.

"Told you that I'd get it back" she whispered with a grin, "Good luck Miles"

Miles turned to Rich. Rich looked at him uncomfortably and cleared his throat, "Look…I'm sorry about before…Caitlin's right. I was just mad because of my brother. Don't forget about us man."

Miles nodded. Rich grinned at him and lightly punched him on the shoulder, "You're a fighter. It'll work out"

Miles felt like his heart was breaking as he turned to Caitlin.

---

Caitlin was almost dreading it as Miles turned to her. She kneeled down and ran her hand down Miles's spine.

_He's gone. This isn't Miles. My Miles is gone._

But then she looked into his eyes and saw the Miles that she knew and loved, and she knew that no matter how much he changed, he was still Miles.

Nothing would change that. Not even a bunch of mutant sea creatures.

"I knew you had something special" she whispered, "Ever since I met you. And I want you to know…" She tried to gather her words, "What I mean to say is…oh hell with it!"

Caitlin leaned forward and kissed him. Right on his big, scaly lips.

_Wow…_thought Miles as Caitlin kissed him, _THAT was a bit unexpected…_

Caitlin pulled back and her eyes filled with tears, "I love you Miles. Don't ever forget that"

_I love you to Caitlin. If only I could tell you that._

Caitlin stood up and joined the group once again. Miles surveyed the group.

_We've come so far…_

He couldn't bear it anymore. He turned around and jumped into the water. Nimrod sidled up next to him,

_Are we going to stop them?_

Miles nodded, _Yes._

Before he swam away, Miles cast one last glance at the church.

_Goodbye guys. _He thought, _Goodbye Caitlin._

Then he turned around and swam off. He had a few things to do.

---

Caitlin jumped as the words entered her mind.

_Goodbye Caitlin._

She glanced at the others in case they had heard. They showed no sign of hearing it. She could have imagined it, but Caitlin didn't find that very likely.

_He spoke to me…_she thought…_he spoke to me…_

It made her sad to think that this would probably be Miles's last gift.

---

Savannah was quietly sitting in a corner of the camp, thinking. The place was very quiet, most people sleeping in the various tents scattered around the area like a child's building blocks. But she couldn't sleep.

After the tsunami had hit, she had taken refuge in this camp for victims of the tsunami. It made her sad to think that most of the people here had lost their families and their possessions in the disaster. But that wasn't why she was awake.

She hadn't been able to contact her family for days. She was worried about them. She was especially worried about Miles. The poor kid had been through so much lately and the thing with the mob must have scared him to death. Now he was probably huddled on the ferry with their parents without a clue what was going to happen and scared out of his wits. At least he had that little lizard to keep him company.

She looked around at the trees surrounding the camp, then she looked up at the stars, _Where are you?_

Suddenly, she heard a hissing sound. Fearing a snake, she turned around and saw a small face peering at her through the bushes. It squawked at her.

"Nim?" she whispered.

The creature turned and started to run through the trees. Savannah got up and followed,

"Hey! Nimmy! Come back here Nimrod!"

Maybe he knew where Miles was. Miles never went far away from him, so it makes sense Miles would be around here. And if Miles was around here….

The creature darted though a gap in the trees. Savannah burst through the foliage and looked around. She was at the edge of a beach. She looked around for a moment until she saw the creature. She almost screamed.

This defiantly wasn't Nimrod. It was way too big to be Nimrod, and in the moonlight she could see its skin was a bit darker too. She started to back away, until the creature looked up.

Its face…there was something familiar about its face…_holy crap._

"Miles?" she whispered.

The creature nodded. Savannah stared for a moment then kneeled down and touched his face, "Oh god…what the hell happened to you? Nim did this didn't he?"

Miles nodded once more. Savannah hugged him, "Oh my god…I was so worried about you. Are Mom and Dad okay?"

Miles pulled back and made a bizarre gurgling noise. Savannah caught on and her face fell.

"You can't talk. Oh Miles…I'm so sorry…"

Miles flexed one of his claws and wrote something in the sand. Savannah leaned over and frowned.

BYE

"Bye?" she looked up, "Why are you saying bye?" Miles rubbed out the word and wrote something else.

STOP CREATURES

"You're going to stop the creatures?" asked Savannah. Miles nodded and she frowned, "So why…"

Suddenly it dawned on her, and she hugged him again, "You can't go" she said, "What about your family! You have to stay with us!"

Miles was touched. He knew his sister cared about him, even if he had been a pain in the ass most of the time. He felt her tears falling down his back as she let go of him.

"I guess you're going to go no matter what I say" she said, "But I want you to take care. You are my brother after all"

Miles drew a love heart in the sand. Savannah smiled through her tears.

"I'll tell them" she said. She looked up at him and her bottom lip wobbled, "Goodbye Miles"

Miles smiled at his sister (at least, what looked like a smile) and waded out into the water. In a second he was gone.

Savannah stared out to sea for a while, and then sadly returned to the camp ground.

---

Miles swam behind Nimrod as he led the way to the 'clan'. He was nervous as hell, who wouldn't be if you had the fate of the world in your hands, but he also felt fairly confident. Samantha pulled up beside him.

_Where are we going?_

_The clan. We are going to stop this once and for all._

_They won't stop Miles. It's in their instincts._

_Then we'll have to change their minds, won't we?_

Samantha looked at him skeptically, _I created these things. I think I know what I'm talking about._

_You obviously haven't been one for long enough then. I stopped a whole bunch of babies from killing people; maybe I can change the others._

Samantha still looked skeptical, but she continued on regardless. Because somewhere in there was the hope that this would work.

Soon, Nimrod led them to the clan. It was huge, hundreds of creatures gathered together in one big area. And they were all digging, causing sand and dirt to come up from the bottom of the ocean and swirl around in giant clouds.

Miles suddenly got the urge to join them. He could feel the heat under the ground and he wanted it, he wanted to feel it coursing through his bones. He shook himself and tried to focus on the task at hand.

_Stop! _He shouted, _Stop digging!_

It seemed like the whole planet had frozen. The creatures stopped and the dust began to settle. One of them, a very large adult, turned to him.

_Why?_

The bluntness of this question stunned Miles for a moment. He tried to gather his thoughts.

_Um…ur…you can't dig! You have to stop or you'll destroy the humans!_

The adult snorted, _the land crawlers? What use are they to us? We are far more superior._

Miles could see this was going to be a hard argument. _But what about their technology?_

_Their so called 'technology' is nothing but trouble. The world is dieing because of their 'technology'. Why else is there so much filth in our waters?_

_But not all humans are bad. Some are good and trying to help you!_

Nimrod spoke up, _he's right! You can't keep digging!_

The creature narrowed its eyes, _keep silent hatchling. You have no place here. You have turned to the side of the strange ones._

It surveyed Miles, _you cannot stop what is in our blood. And you have no one to help you but a strange one, _it turned to Samantha, _and a hatchling. You yourself are still a hatchling and so cannot understand the decisions you make. I suggest you join the rest of us, or you can perish with the land crawlers._

The creature made to turn around. Miles quickly grabbed at the next thing that came into his head.

_But they'll kill you!_

The creature turned back, _What?_

_That's right. You heard me. They'll kill you._

The creature seemed to laugh; _We are far stronger than the humans. We could kill them in the blink of an eye. Even if they could hit us with their measly weapons we would regenerate._

Miles grinned, _that's not all they have. He, _he gestured to Nimrod, _may have survived a gunshot, but what about a nuclear bomb?_

The creature froze, _what is this weapon you speak of?_

_It is large and ferocious. It could kill one million people in the blink of an eye, and burns like a thousand suns. You'll be blown to bits before you can heal yourselves._

_It's trickery. You are just trying to stop us. _It didn't sound so sure.

_And if you destroy them before they can do that, they have a virus. Unless we turn back now, the humans will release it and we'll all die._

_But how…?_ The creature glared at him, _You are working with them! You helped them! Traitor!_

_I'm trying to save you! Besides, do we really want to stoop so low as to kill off an entire species? Please, I beg of you, stop digging or we are all doomed!_

There was a moment's silence, and then slowly a couple of creatures came over and swam beside Miles. Then another. Then another. Soon, the whole clan were swimming beside him.

The creature looked around him, _what are you doing? This is trickery! Can't you see he is lying!_

Miles grinned triumphantly, _Sorry man, but we want to live._

He began to swim away, _come on. Lets all get out of here._

Gradually, the others followed. Finally, the lone creature sighed and joined to group as they moved on.

They had some work to do.

---

When scientists made the creatures, they thought they had a perfect plan. But there were a couple of things they didn't count on.

One: That if the creatures were strong enough to follow their instincts, they could be strong enough to go against them.

Two: That one, ordinary teenage boy could change these instincts for them.

---

Now, before you all get you knickers in a knot, the story is NOT OVER! I still have eight chapters at the very least.

Thank you peppaoceangal, 2footnim and Spastic Basket Case, your reviews ensured that I got this far.


	11. Reunions

Right, here we go, here's the (very) long awaited 11th chapter. I'm really sorry it took so long; I had a lot of problems writing this chapter. I thought this would be an easy one too…

Well, anyway, to make for it it's a long one, so as usual I hope you enjoy! Sorry, the art lines arn't working so until it strts working again you have to bear with me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface. I can't be stuffed writing anything witty today.

Reunions.

On top of a roof, in the middle of an ocean, three people sat silently, waiting. They weren't sure what they were waiting for, but they waited nonetheless. The sky was black and cloudy, and it looked like a storm was coming. It reflected the people's moods.

Caitlin wondered if Miles was alright. He'd been gone all night, and although she hadn't expected him to come back it was still like a punch in the guts when he hadn't reappeared.

_He's gone. Now we have to release the virus._

No regrets. No final decisions. They had to do it, get it over and done with. Save the world.

_But at what price?_

"Hey!" shouted Laura suddenly, "Look!"

Caitlin leaned over the edge of the roof and gasped. The water was glowing blue and she could see the silhouettes of several creatures swimming in the water.

"That's it!" said Rich, "We're done for!"

Suddenly a bolt of lightning shot from the sky. One of the creatures jumped up and there was a crash as the lightning hit it and it swam back down.

"They need the electricity to survive" said Laura, "The orchid that grew in the fridge needed it to grow"

"They are charging up" said Caitlin, fitting two and two together, "Getting stronger. Getting ready"

She turned to Laura, "The virus. We need to release the virus. Now"

Laura nodded, but then hesitated, "But Miles…"

Caitlin felt tears forming in her eyes. Laura didn't need her to respond. She took the vial out of her shirt pocket and was about to throw it when another bolt of lighting hit the edge of the roof. Caitlin screamed and jumped back as another one of the creatures came up to meet the bolt, and she shut her eyes and felt rain start to pound on her face.

"Get away from the edge!" screamed Laura, "Into the middle!"

The three hurried to the middle of the roof. The rain was pelting down now, and in seconds the companions were drenched. Another bolt of lighting came down and this time thunder followed, its boom splitting through the air like an arrow.

"The virus!" shouted Laura.

The vial had rolled out of her hand and was rolling across the roof, out of reach. Caitlin could only watch in horror as a lighting bolt struck and one of the cretures jumped onto the roof to catch it. She heard Laura and Rich scream as the gigantic creature pulled itself onto the roof and eyed them with reptilian eyes.

She shut her eyes again, _Miles…Miles, help us Miles…please if you can hear me, if you are alive, please help us…_

The creature roared and Caitlin felt like her ears were about to explode. She braced herself, _this is the end._

As suddenly as it had started, the creature stopped roaring. It turned around and seemed to glare at something in the water. It growled then slipped back into the water.

The rain was still pelting down on Caitlin's face. The storm was still roaring above her. And yet she felt detached from it all as she watched the creature slip back into the depths of the ocean.

_Why did it turn around? Where did it go?_

Somehow she thought she knew the answer.

She heard Laura shouting and her mind snapped back to reality,

"Rich! Rich! Don't go over there!"

Rich was running across the roof. He stopped at the edge and leaned over, then turned around and faced them, puzzled.

"They're gone!" he shouted, "They're bloody gone!"

The rain began to slow. It went from a pelting storm to a light shower in the few minutes that the three sat there for. The clouds began to part, and above them Caitlin could see the stars coming out. The three sat there a little longer, and then Laura stood up and went to retrieve the virus.

"Looks like we won't be needing this anymore" she said, bending down to pick it up. And then it happened.

She had the vial in her hand. She tripped. It happened so fast that they didn't realise what had happened until Laura fell and the virus flew into the air.

"No!" Caitlin, Laura and Rich shouted in unison.

Something small shot out of the water and grabbed the vial right out of the air. Caitlin could just see the creature as it landed in the water, and her face fell.

"It's loose. We set it loose. Now it's going to kill everyone" she said, each word echoing across the roof and feeling like a knife stabbing her heart.

Suddenly, the small creature jumped out of the water and landed on the roof. She hadn't seen it properly when it had grabbed the vial, but now she could see it up close and she knew what it was.

"Nimrod!" she said, "Oh Nimrod…"

Nimrod made a choking noise, and then spat something out of his mouth. The vial, still intact, rolled across the roof and came to a rest at Laura's feet.

Laura looked up at Caitlin, then at Nimrod, then back to the vial. She carefully picked it up and placed it back in her pocket. Nimrod crawled up onto Caitlin's shoulder and looked at her proudly.

"Good job Nimrod" Caitlin laughed. Then she thought of something,

"Where's Miles?"

Nimrod looked at her almost sadly. Caitlin sighed, and then she pushed Nimrod off her shoulder and turned to Laura and Rich,

"I'm exhausted. Let's get some sleep" she said, hiding her hurt.

Laura and Rich nodded, too dazed and tired to do much else. They each settled down and were asleep in less than a few minutes.

When Laura woke up, the first thing she saw was Rich.

He was leaning over the edge of the building, staring at the water. Ignoring the stiffness in her legs, she got up and came up behind him.

"Morning. Good hour for fishing?"

Rich turned to her and she noticed the bags under his eyes,

"They just left" he said, dazed, "They just left and they're gone…"

"Someone told them to stop" said a voice behind them. Caitlin walked up beside Laura and smiled at Rich, "It's over now"

Nimrod jumped up from behind Caitlin and perched on her shoulder like an overgrown parrot. He made a squawking noise and stared at Rich intently, as if waiting for something to happen.

Rich frowned, "But…what….?"

Laura rolled her eyes and put a hand on Rich's shoulder, "I think she knows Rich. It's over"

Rich continued to stare at Caitlin, "It's over?" he laughed, "It's over!"

He jumped up and threw his arms up, "It's over! My god it's over! I can go home!"

He ran over to Caitlin and hugged her, "It's over! Boy, I bet the girls will be glad to see me!" then he ran back to Laura and kissed her, "It's over!"

Laura looked stunned. Rich realised what he'd done, took his hands off her shoulders and coughed, "Um…sorry"

Laura giggled, "That's okay. What Tracy doesn't know won't hurt her"

Rich groaned, "Oh no…Tracy! Last time I saw her she had a divorce lawyer!"

Suddenly Caitlin noticed something. There was a speck on the horizon, and as it got closer Caitlin saw it was a boat.

"Guys! There's a boat over there!" she exclaimed. She started to wave her arms,

"Hey! HEY! OVER HERE!"

Laura and Rich saw the boat and began waving too. The boat got nearer and nearer, and eventually it got to the roof. A man stood up and waved, "Hello strangers! Want a ride?"

They nodded and crawled into the boat.

The camp was crawling with people. Some Laura recognised from the ferry, but most of the people were just standing there looking for other people. She turned to the boat man, who's name he had told them was Simon.

"Why is this place so crowded?"

Simon shrugged, "Everywhere else for miles around is flooded. There are people from everywhere around here"

Caitlin stepped out of the boat, Nimrod jumping after her, "Maybe your son is here"

Laura shrugged, but something in her eyes sparkled with hope, "I don't know. I hope so though"

"Lets start looking" said Rich, "See that tent over there? With the number four on it? We'll meet back there later"

Caitlin nodded, "Okay"

The three separated and began to look for their families.

Laura was first to find Jesse.

She pushed through the crowd scanning for her son's tell-tale blonde hair. Several boys flew past and almost every time she could have sworn it was him. She had been searching for about an hour when she heard the voice.

"Mom?"

She spun around. There was a boy standing behind her, and in a few seconds he was gobbled up by the crowd. She pushed her way back through the crowd frantically, "Jesse? Jesse?"

"Mom!"

Jesse appeared out of the crowd and froze. He stared at Laura with big, hopeful eyes. Laura smiled and felt tears escaping through her eyes.

"Jesse" she whispered.

Jesse ran up to her and hugged her, "Mom! What happened to you? I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too" said Laura, crying.

"You got carried off by those men" said Jesse, "You were at school and then those people took you away, and then the tsunami hit and dad had to drive me here and a guy tried to hijack our car! He threw a bottle through our window! But I was brave and I kept twirling my bracelet!" he held up his wrist to show her.

"Me too" said Laura, holding up her wrist. She hugged him again, "Oh I missed you so much! I'm never going to leave you again!"

"Not even to go diving?"

"Not even to go diving"

"What about those creatures?"

Laura looked Jesse in the eyes, "The creatures are gone Jesse. They won't hurt us anymore"

Jesse smiled, "My Mom kicked their butts!"

Laura laughed and ruffled his hair, "That's right. Your Mom kicked their butts."

They continued to hug, ignoring the people around them, and Laura finally felt at home again.

Meanwhile, Rich was also pushing his way through the crowds. Where was Tracy? Had she and the girls even got here?

What if they didn't outrun the tsunami? What if they drowned? He would never forgive himself if they had.

To his left, he saw someone. A woman with blonde hair was walking away from him.

Tracy!

Rich ran towards the woman, "Tracy!" he shouted "Tracy!" She didn't seem to hear him. He pushed his way through the crowd, "Tracy! It's me Rich!"

The woman turned around and Rich's face fell. It defiantly wasn't Tracy.

"Sorry" he mumbled, embarrassed, "Thought you were someone else"

He turned around and was about to walk away when he heard someone say his name.

"Rich?"

He looked up. Tracy was standing in front of him, her face deep set and tired with bags under her eyes. She stared at him for a moment, then spoke, "I got your message"

Rich smiled at her and hugged her, "Tracy! Oh thank god its you! I missed you and the girls so much!"

He felt Tracy stiffen in his arms, and let go of her, frowning, "Tracy? What's the matter?"

Tracy looked at him sadly, "I though you were dead" she said after a moment, "I thought you had drowned"

"I thought I was going to die too" he said, "But I'm here now. I'm perfectly alive"

"But that's the thing" Tracy said, "You left us Rich. You left your own family in the dark. Do you know what the girls were saying when the tsunami hit? They said they wanted their daddy. And you went and left a phone message"

"There wasn't much else I could do!" protested Rich, "I was trapped in a cell!"

"You could have been there" said Tracy, "But no. You were out gallivanting with that other woman" Rich rolled his eyes, "I already told you! Laura is _just a friend_"

"But how do I know that Rich?" asked Tracy, "You left us for almost a year. How can I trust you if you don't even come home anymore?"

"I tried, but you had Mr. Divorce Lawyer strutting in our living room!"  
"What else could I do Rich?" said Tracy, "Call you and say all was forgiven?"

"You could have supported me!" said Rich, "My brother was killed by those creatures and you didn't believe me!"

"Your brother" said Tracy coldly, "It all comes down to your brother. Your brother wouldn't have wanted you to go looking for answers that weren't there!"

"Well what did you want me to do?" Rich shouted, "Just get on with my life knowing that whatever had killed my brother was still out there and waiting to kill me too?"

Tracy was silent. People had turned to look at them, and they quickly scurried off to find their relatives.

"You wouldn't have done that a year ago" whispered Tracy.

Rich sighed, "What do you want Tracy? What do I have to do to win you back?"

Tears welled up in Tracy's eyes, "I want proof Rich" she said, "Proof that you won't go away again"

Rich threw his hands in the air, "You want proof? Alright, I'll give you proof"

Rich leaned forward and kissed her. And it wasn't a peck on the cheek; it was a full on, passionate kiss that reminded Rich of when he and Tracy first met.

Tracy recoiled a little, and then began to kiss him back. When they came apart she was crying.

"I love you Tracy" whispered Rich, "I have loved ever since I met you and I've never stopped thinking about you"

Tracy hugged him, "I love you too Rich"

"I'll never leave again. I wish I hadn't in the first place, but I had to find out. It was driving me crazy"

"I'm sorry too. I should have listened to you"

"Where are the girls?"

Tracy smiled, "They're in the tent over there. I came out because I heard someone calling my name"

They began to make their way over to the tent, when Rich remembered the lawyer.

"What happened to the lawyer anyway?"

Tracy laughed, "He tried to come on to me and I fired him"

Rich smiled. He could almost hear his brother laughing with him.

Caitlin looked around her as people passed barely glancing at her. Her father must be here somewhere…

"Caitlin!"

Caitlin turned around and grinned when she saw her father hurrying towards her.

"Dad" she whispered as he came up to her and embraced her.

"Caitlin! Oh my God I thought you were dead…when Phil told us you'd drowned…"

Caitlin stiffened. She realised that she had no idea what Phil had told the others after rescuing Miles.

"What exactly did Phil say?"

Her father was still clinging to her, and he didn't notice the confusion in her voice,

"That man who you came up with tried to rescue the creature, and that you tried to stop him but the creature attacked you and knocked you overboard. When we heard the splash and found Phil in the water…we thought you'd drowned…"

Caitlin had to stifle a giggle. _Good old Phil, putting a little bit of drama into it._

"I am never leaving you again" Dr. Blum said, "Never again"

Caitlin nodded, and continued to hug her father. She saw Nimrod as he turned around and headed to the water. She thought she saw another figure out of the corner of her eye, and she saw Nimrod nod his head and turn back to Caitlin. The other figure bobbed down into the water and Caitlin guessed who it was.

Even though she was back with her dad, it made her sad to think that Miles might never see his family again.

Somewhere in the middle of the camp, a man stood watching as the companions met back at the tent. He watched as they talked, and then separated again to join their families. He watched as the woman walked away to join her son and he wished he could join her.

_Not yet. Laura can't know you're here yet. Just wait._

With that, the man slunk back into the crowd.

There we go, wasn't that good! Next chapter we get an unexpected visit from two unexpected people…

Great news! Now my internet is working so the chappies will come a bit quicker (after I write them of course…)

Anyway, I really hope this chapter met your standards, and please review! Thank you DarkPsion, Nimster57, Spastic Basket Case, 2footnim, peppaoceangal, Celandine (thought you'd never come back!) and SkyHighFan for the support! I love you guys!


	12. Rebuilding

Here you go guys, chapter 12! This one is probably the shortest yet, but yet again it is just a filler to let you know what's been happening. Don't hurt me:screams and runs away:

BTW: The art lines still arn't working so the next few chapters will be a bit jumbled until i work out how to fix this...

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface. I can't even buy the DVD yet :growls:

Rebuilding.

_**Three months later…**_

Laura dropped the piece of wood she was carrying and stretched. Her muscles were aching, and as she stretched she looked around in satisfaction.

Three months. Only three months and this place was already looking as good as new, houses once again lining new streets and water pipes running under newly upturned ground. Usually it took years for a town to repair itself after a tsunami as devastating as this, but this town almost looked ready to live in again. Ever since the tsunami, everyone in the camp had been pitching in and helping to rebuild the houses and replant trees, and since the water had gone down drastically a week after Laura, Rich and Caitlin had arrived they could bring in more supplies. The government was even pitching in, donating millions of dollars to charities and organisations to help cover the cost of building materials.

_Almost like they were diverting funds from somewhere else, _Laura speculated.

In those three months she, Rich and Caitlin had been meeting at the building sites and talking about things. But none of them really spoke what was on their minds. They were all wondering about Miles.

She picked up her slab of wood again and headed to the current building site. Suddenly she was stopped in her tracks by a familiar voice,

"Laura! Laura!"

Laura turned around and saw Phil running towards her. She smiled,

"Phil! You made it! Where have you been, I haven't see you around…"

Phil stopped in front of her, panting. His face was red and his eyes were darting around, searching. Laura frowned,

"Phil? What's wrong?"

"I…"

Phil's eyes widened as he saw something behind Laura. Laura turned around and saw a woman strutting towards her. She squinted. That woman looked familiar…

_Oh no._

"I'm sorry!" blurted Phil, "She saw us! I had to tell her…"

Laura dropped her plank of wood and gulped as Miles's mother came closer towards her. She came right up to Laura and looked her in the eye.

"Where's my son, you bitch!"

Laura blinked, "Pardon?"

"You heard me! Where is Miles?" she demanded.

"I…"

"You don't know do you?" she said coldly.

"Mrs. Barnett, please calm down…"

"Calm down!" she shouted, "I found out that my son has turned into a mutant sea creature and he's gone off to 'save the world' and you expect me to _calm down_!"

Laura glanced at Phil, who was looking at the ground, and turned back to Miles's mother.

"Mrs. Barnett…"

"Sylvia"

"Sylvia…I'm really sorry about your son. But there is nothing I can do; he left on his own free will"

Sylvia glared at her, "I bet you have no idea what's it's like to lose someone, do you?" her face softened and tears welled up in her eyes "Do you have any idea what it's like to wake up one morning and realise your life has been turned upside down, and there is nothing you can do about it? No way of turning back?"

In that instant, Laura felt very sorry for her. She laid a hand on her shoulder,

"Yes I do. Ever since this started. Everyone in this camp has experienced that"

Sylvia looked at her and the tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Three months" she whispered, "I haven't seen him for three months. What if he never comes back?"

Laura patted her on the back, "Don't worry Sylvia. We _will_ get Miles back. Whatever it takes"

It wasn't like they hadn't been trying either. They'd tried to think of something, some way to bring Miles back. But they had no idea what to do. They needed a professional to help them, a scientist.

And Laura was going to find one.

When Laura went to find Caitlin, she was in the usual spot. She was sitting on the beach eating her lunch and staring out to the ocean, while Nimrod frolicked around her.

It had been like that ever since they'd come here. Every day she'd help with the building, and then she'd come and sit at the edge of the beach. The whole thing with Miles was affecting her a lot more than she'd thought.

"Caitlin?"

Caitlin looked up, "Oh, hi Laura"

Laura sat down next to her, "I just met Miles's mother"

Caitlin froze, "What did she say?"

Laura laughed, "She called me a bitch" Caitlin snorted at that.

"I guess she asked where Miles was?"

Laura nodded. Caitlin sighed, "Well, it looks like we're going to have to find someone then"

"How?" said Laura, "The only people who would be able to help us would be the people who made these things, and I don't really think they'd be willing to help us out"

"What about you? You're a scientist"

Laura shook her head, "I don't know a thing about genetic engineering though. We need someone who's worked with this kind of stuff before"

Caitlin frowned, "Then how are we going to find _that_ out?"

Laura tapped her head, "We look. We ask. Kessler tried to escape out of Iderdex when the tsunami hit, and if he managed to get out that means others could have too"

"And then we come back to the fact that they probably won't help us" said Caitlin miserably.

Laura put her arms over her shoulders, "Hey, cheer up. All is not lost. Miles would want us to keep going and not give up"

Caitlin nodded, "I guess so" she said, "But it just seems so hopeless"

Laura grinned, "Looks can be deceiving. I'm sure Miles proved that beyond belief"

Laura walked through the crowds, looking for Jesse. He'd gone to get lunch from the ration people and was probably waiting for her at the building site. This was probably the first time in three months she'd let him out of her sight.

_Where is he? _She thought as she scanned the crowds.

Suddenly, she saw someone standing little further away from her, watching. At first she couldn't see his face, but it looked familiar.

_Who's that?_  
Laura walked closer towards the man, but he turned around and walked off into the crowds again. Laura frowned, and then followed.

The man kept walking. Laura was starting to get impatient with him, so she pushed through some people and ran up behind him,

"Hey, do I know you?"

The man turned around. Laura's mouth fell open and she stood gaping for a moment, and then she smiled and hugged him.

"Jackson! Oh god, it's you! What are you doing here?"

Jackson grinned, "Hiya Dee! Glad to see you made it!"

"Of course. You know me, I'm a fighter! I though you'd drowned or been eaten or something!"

Jackson laughed, "You wish. After you guy left in the submersible the water churned and the boat got a bit of damage so I had to turn back. I thought you guys had died"

Laura suddenly remembered something, and she let go of Jackson, "Why were you at Iderdex?"

Jackson frowned, "What?"

"Rich and I went to Iderdex and he saw you there. What were you doing at Iderdex?"

Jackson frowned, and then he sighed, "Right. I guess I had to tell you sometime"

"Tell me what?"

"I didn't know about them Laura, I swear I had no idea"

Laura frowned at him, "Jackson, what is it?"

Jackson looked at her sadly,

"Laura, I work there"

Well, I know this was short, but it was a little filler for the next one. Next chapter we find out what Jackson has REALLY been up…

Thank you to 2footnim and Spastic Basket Case for being my only reviewers (guys where are the rest of you?) and thank you SkyHighFan for filling me in on the details!


	13. Jackson

Hello again! To make up for not updating for ages I'm updating these two chapters quickly for you! Yay!

In this chapter we find out what Jackson has been doing all this time…oh dear. We also find out how to cure Miles…

Enjoy, as usual! And once again the art line are not working so I have to figure out a way to get around this…

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface. The Pate brothers do. That is all.

---

Jackson.

Laura stood there for a moment, but then the statement hit home. She glared at Jackson, hate boiling in her eyes,

"You bastard. You are a real piece of work"

Jackson put his hands up, "I can explain…"

"You knew about the creatures and you still let us go down in the submersible. You still kept it from me"

"Laura, I didn't…"

"Or was our whole friendship a scam!" Laura said, her voice rising uncontroably, "Just a way to get information! You are a traitor!"

"But…"

"TRAITOR!"

"Laura!" Jackson shouted, "Can you shut up for a second!"

Laura, shocked, immediately stopped shouting. Jackson put his hands down.

"Alright. Let's get one thing straight. I knew _nothing_ about the creatures until a few weeks before the tsunami. I worked at the cryogenics stores, keeping the stores cool and such. I had no idea that Iderdex was making the creatures until it was way too late"

"But you must have had some idea…"

"Iderdex don't tell they're employees anything. I only figured it out because I overheard someone talking about a 'project' that they'd heard was going on higher up"

Laura looked down, feeling hot in the face. She stayed like that for a moment, and then she felt Jackson put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Laura. I would have told you if I knew"

Laura looked up and smiled sadly, "I know."

Jackson grinned, and then his face turned serious,

"I know about the kid. The one you guys were talking about"

Laura frowned, "You know about Miles?"

Jackson nodded, "I've been watching you for a while. I didn't want to show myself in case the firm decided to show themselves"

Laura nodded. Jackson continued, "I can help you. I had to learn a bit of science to get into the job, so I may not be the absolute genius but I can help"

Laura grinned, but secretly she was feeling a bit peeved. How could Jackson keep something like this from her? He had been her friend, but now he felt like a completely different person.

Jackson felt her stiffening under his hand and he took it away. He cleared his throat,

"Well. Let's get to work"

---

Caitlin sat opposite Laura and Jackson on the beach and tried to understand what was happening.

"So…you used to work for Iderdex?" she said.

Jackson nodded.

"And you know what happened to Miles?"

Jackson nodded again, "I have it all figured out"

He took a piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket and started drawing, "Now, I'm going to explain this as simply as I can"

He held up the drawing. It was a picture of what looked like a spiral staircase, and Jackson pointed to it,

"Right. This is a double helix, a rough drawing of human DNA"

"I know what a double helix is" said Caitlin dryly.

Jackson ignored her "This is Miles's DNA. When people are bitten by animals, usually something is left behind, saliva, fur, scales etcetera. When Miles was bitten by the creatures, some saliva was trapped in the wound"

He pointed to part of the DNA strand, "The saliva begins to try and heal itself. But here is the catch. These healing powers aren't meant for people, they're meant for the creatures, and so it thinks that Miles's body is wrong and tries to fix it" he crossed out part of the strand, "Miles's body reacts to these sudden changes, which causes the fever"

Jackson paused, "You getting all this?"

Caitlin nodded. Jackson continued,

"Anyway, Nimrod comes along and heals him, which saves him and speeds up the healing process. By now Miles is generating his own healing powers and his body is telling him to change what the original saliva was trying to change. So he becomes one of the creatures"

Caitlin nodded, "Right. Okay. I get it. But how does this help us cure Miles?"

Jackson put down the paper and shrugged casually, "We work backwards. We make a chromosome that can be used to heal people instead of the creatures and give it to Miles"

"That's what she was trying to do" said Laura absently, "When she first made the creatures that was what she was trying to do"

"Who?"

Laura shrugged, "A friend of ours. I haven't heard from her since Rich and I went to the abandoned Iderdex warehouse"

Jackson frowned, "Would that be Dr. Morris?"

Laura frowned back, "She never mentioned her name. She was tall with short blonde hair and glasses"

Jackson nodded, "That's her. She got caught out and taken"

"Taken where?"

Jackson shook his head "No-one knows. When that happens we assume the worst"

A shiver ran down Laura's spine as she remembered the list of exterminated employees she had found in the boat wreak

_Infinitely more cautious than a terrorist camp._

"It'll take me a couple of weeks" said Jackson, bringing Laura back to reality, "And that's with a lab. Without one it could take months"

"Dad got a letter yesterday from the aquarium" said Caitlin, "He was going to go down there in a few days to fix it up. We have a lab there"

Jackson nodded, "Perfect. Now all we need is some of the creatures DNA"

Caitlin whistled and Nimrod jumped out of a bush behind them. He growled at Jackson and looked up at Caitlin as if to say, _what's this guy doing here?_

"Wow" said Jackson, "You trained that thing?"

Caitlin shook her head, "Miles did"

Jackson grinned, "Well, now we've got everything we need"

"But how are we going to get Caitlin's dad to let you use the lab?" asked Laura.

"Leave it to me" said Caitlin, "I'll go and talk to him right now"

"I'll go and find Rich. He'll want to come with us" said Laura.

They both left. Jackson looked at Nimrod and Nimrod stared back at him, as if expecting something to happen.

"What are you looking at, fish face?" asked Jackson. Nim growled at him and a little electric charge ran up Jackson's foot.

"Ouch!" he yelped as the charge ran up his leg. He could see getting the DNA samples was going to be difficult.

---

Laura found Rich playing with the girls by his tent. She waved at him, "Rich! Rich! I need to talk to you!"

Rich looked up, "Hi Laura!" he whispered something to the kids and they giggled and scampered away to find their mother.

Laura laughed, "Having fun there?"

Rich laughed too, "I missed them so much. And now I'm their dad again"

Laura smiled, and then she remembered what she had come for, "Rich, Jackson is here"

Rich gasped, "Really? Oh my god, he's alive!"

"Yep. And guess what he's been doing all this time"

Rich frowned, "What?"

"He's been working for Iderdex"

Rich stared at her for a moment, and then he swore.

"That son of a bitch…"

"He didn't know about the creatures" said Laura quickly, "He wants to help us with Miles. He's figured out a way to cure him, but we're going to have to go to the aquarium in North Carolina with Caitlin's dad"

Rich bit his lip, "I'm not sure Tracy will like that…she doesn't even know Jackson"

"It's the best thing we can do" said Laura, "You don't have to come"

Rich shook his head, "No, I'll come. I've stuck with this so far and I'll stick with it till the very end"

Laura grinned, "Great. I'll tell Caitlin you're coming"

Rich nodded, "I'll talk to Tracy tonight. Hopefully she'll say yes"

"Let's hope so" said Laura, and she hugged him, "Thanks for sticking with it"

"What else can I do? Miles is a friend, and we deserve to do something for him"

_Let's hope we're not too late._

_---_

Caitlin found her dad reading a book by their tent. She hesitated, and then she cleared her throat,

"Dad?"

Dr. Blume looked up, "Hello Caitlin. What's up?"

Caitlin rubbed the back of her head, "Um…well…I need to tell you something. About Miles"

Dr. Blume frowned, "I'm sure he's alright Caitlin. He's probably at a camp somewhere waiting for us"

"No Dad, this is about his…well…he's been changing…"

Dr. Blume nodded, "He was acting a bit weird wasn't he? What with leading the babies into the ocean, and then the mob outside his house…"

"Remember that bite? How Nimrod healed him? It did something to him"

Dr. Blume laughed, "That's ridiculous. You're just imagining things"

"No Dad. I'm serious. There are some things that I haven't told you, some things I couldn't tell you. But now you have to believe me"

Dr. Blume heard the seriousness in her voice, and he put his book down.

"I'm listening"

Caitlin took a deep breath, "We were on the church roof after the tsunami, and something happened to Miles. He changed. Physically. Remember the creature we pulled onto the ferry?"

Her dad nodded, "What about it?"

Caitlin stared his straight in the eyes, "That was him"

Dr. Blume stared at her for a moment, shocked, and then it slowly dawned on him and he swore under his breath, "Oh god…you mean…"

Caitlin nodded. Dr. Blume looked at her horrified, "I was going to chop him up…send him to a lab for a dissection…oh god…"

"We may have found a way to cure him" said Caitlin, "Laura has a friend called Jackson who can help us. But he needs a lab"

Dr. Blume nodded, "The aquarium lab. You sure you can trust this man?"

Caitlin shrugged, "We don't have a choice. Either that or we let Miles stay one of them forever"

"Then he comes with us. I almost killed Miles back there, and if we can help him now we will"

Caitlin kissed him, "Thanks Dad! Thank you so much!"

And so it was settled. Caitlin, Rich, Laura and Jackson left the camp a few days later. It wasn't until a few weeks later, however, that Jackson found the cure.

---

Well…at least this chapter was a bit longer. Next chapter we get to see Miles again, yay!

Thank you Nimster57, DarkPsion, Spastic Basket Case and SkyHighFan for the reviews! I owe you guys so much!

BTW: If anyone wants some Surface pictures, I have 496 up for grabs.


	14. Cure

Hello! Welcome to chapter 14!

Not much to say really, I don't want to give it away. In this chapter we discover that JACKSON HAS FOUND A CURE! YIPEE!

Read on…and I hope you enjoy! Ha! I said it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface…but I will get it on DVD soon!

---

Cure.

Jackson eyed Laura, Rich and Caitlin from across the table.

"Well, I'm sure we all know what we're here for today"

Caitlin nodded, "You've found a cure right?"

Jackson nodded, "It's not very advanced, but it's the best I can do"

He took out three bottles and placed them on the stainless steel table. One had a light blue liquid in it that seemed to match the blue glow of the rest of the aquarium. Jackson picked it up.

"This little baby will stop Miles's healing powers. We can't give him something and have the healing powers reverse it before we can do anything"

He picked up the next bottle which contained a foggy red liquid, "This thing is the actual cure. It is a special kind of cell built like the original saliva in Miles's wound. It will act pretty much in the same way, changing the body, but it'll do it a lot slower and Miles will probably a bit sick for a while. When he is we'll up the dose and he should go back to normal. At the end of this he might be able to heal faster"

The last bottle contained a bunch of tablets. He held them up, "This is for after treatments over. The stuff I just showed you works, but it isn't quite strong enough to get rid of all the traits, if it was Miles would be dead from the fever before he could be cured. This is just a stronger dose of the other stuff, and it's just to get rid of the remaining traits."

"This stuff is brilliant" said Rich in awe. Jackson shrugged, but you could tell he was proud,

"It was nothing. Just a bit of genetic engineering and life altering changes here and there"

Laura rolled her eyes, and then turned to Caitlin, "How are we going to tell Miles?"

Nimrod squealed at her from a corner of the room and he jumped up onto Caitlin's shoulder. Caitlin laughed,

"We'll send Nimrod. He'll be able to find him for sure"

Laura nodded, "Seems like a good idea. I just hope this works"

"What about Miles's parents?" asked Rich, "Do they know?"

Laura nodded, "They're at their house. I'll tell them we've got a cure as soon as we let Nim loose"

Rich clapped his hands, "Well, we'd better do it then. No point sitting here wasting time. Let's bring Miles back!"

---

Miles was swimming casually with the other creatures. Honestly, there wasn't much else you could do in an ocean but swim. He knew that if he was still human this would have been incredibly boring, but now…it was different. He was one with the water and could pick up every detail in the water whether it was a change of current or a fish scampering away into the rocks. For once in his life, he was totally at peace. This was where he belonged.

But it wasn't, and he knew it. He'd never belonged here. He belonged back up on land with his family. And that fact stayed like a thistle stuck on his brain. To make it worse, he terribly missed everyone, and his grief seemed to be creeping up on him at every opportunity.

At least he'd managed to stop the creatures digging. He hoped that Caitlin, Rich and Laura had made it off the roof, and he hoped Nimrod had kept his promise to stay with Caitlin. Then he saw Nimrod swimming towards him.

_What are you doing here? You were supposed to stay with Caitlin!_

Nimrod stopped, _they told me to come. They've found a cure or something…_

Miles's heart leapt in his chest. He nodded to Nimrod, _go and get the others. Tell them they're going home._

Nimrod nodded and set off. Miles started to swim towards North Carolina aquarium.

_I'm coming guys. Hope you don't mind if I bring some friends._

_---_

Caitlin, Rich, Laura and Jackson waited for Miles at Compton Marsh. The day was fine and the sun was shining, but it did not help the tense atmosphere. While they were waiting, each second seemed to last for a minute, each minute an hour.

"Caitlin?" asked Rich, "Any sign of him?"

Caitlin shook her head. Secretly she had been waiting for the voice in her head, but so far she had heard nothing. What if Nimrod hadn't been able to find him? What if he hadn't got the message properly?

What if Miles didn't want to come back?

_Now that's stupid_, she thought to herself, _of course Miles wants to come back_.

But that was the thing. She _wasn't sure_.

What if he had found a new life with the creatures? What if he had decided there was nothing left for him back on land? It made her felt rejected and lonely.

_But there is_, she felt like shouting, _you're family is here. I'm here._

"Hello…" said Jackson behind her, "What's that?"

Caitlin squinted. There was defiantly something swimming towards them. Her heart leapt in her chest and she didn't need to guess who it was.

"It's Miles!" she cried, "Oh My God its Miles!"

As soon as he heard her voice, the creature sped up. He reached the shore and stopped. Caitlin watched him, and then took a step forward. Then she ran up to him and hugged him.

"You're here" she said, crying now, "You made it"

Miles wished he could talk, because there were so many things he wanted to say right there and then.

_Caitlin, I love you. I love you so much…_

Jackson stood watching with Laura and Rich. He leaned over to Laura,

"Is that him?"

Laura smiled and laughed, "Yeah, that's him"

Rich smiled too, "Well at least we know he got the message"

Laura smiled again. Everything was going to be okay. Miles was going to be healed and everything would be…

Suddenly she noticed something in the water. She screamed.

"Rich! RICH!"

Rich turned to where Laura was looking and he gasped, "Shit…oh shit…"

Nimrod was swimming towards them, and following him were hundreds of the creatures. Really big ones. Caitlin looked up from where she was with Miles and she screamed as well. Miles turned around and jumped out of Caitlin's grasp.

"What the hell does he think he's doing!" shouted Jackson as Miles ran up to the creatures.

Miles let out a screech. The creatures stopped swimming and stayed out in the deep water. Nimrod called out to Miles, and Miles turned back to Caitlin and screeched at her.

Caitlin stopped shaking with fear. She looked at Miles, and then looked at the creatures in the water. Then she laughed.

"Have you gone insane?" asked Jackson, "Those creatures were going to kill us!"

Caitlin laughed again, "Those aren't creatures" she said.

Laura stood there for a moment, and then it dawned on her. She looked at Rich and Jackson, and they seemed to have understood too.

Caitlin grinned, "Bet you're glad we didn't use the virus then"

---

Miles was taken back to the aquarium (Nimrod had wanted to stay at the marsh) and put into one of the large empty tanks. It had previously been used as a display tank but after the tsunami most of the coral got torn away. They had to get rid of it all and were still waiting for replacements.

"It's easier to treat you this way" explained Jackson on the way, "Because we can just give it to you in the water. We're still trying to figure out how to deal with the others."

Miles nodded; he was too tired to do anything else. He hoped they would fix the water salinity before the treatment; it had nowhere near enough salt in it.

Caitlin leaned down and smiled at Miles.

"Hear that? You're finally going to be cured"

Miles smiled back at her. He heard footsteps and Laura came up behind Caitlin.

"Hey Miles" she said "Someone's here to see you!"

Miles's heart thudded in his chest as he imagined his parents, but instead he was surprised when Phil came up to the tank.

"Miles!" he shouted ecstatically, "Oh my God it's you! Last time I saw you you'd jumped off a ferry!"

Miles squawked a reply and Phil's face fell.

"Oh right…you can't talk. Geez, you really don't seem to be getting much luck these days, do you?"

Miles snorted. _You don't know the half of it_.

"You saved the world man" Phil continued, "How cool was that? My best friend saved the world!"

"Sorry to butt in" interrupted Jackson, "But I think Miles might want to rest. Tomorrow we start the treatment, and once that's started Miles won't have the energy to do anything"

Miles silently thanked Jackson. It was great to see Phil, but he was exhausted. Phil sensed this and shrugged,

"Alright then. I'll come by tomorrow" he said lightly. He turned to Miles, "I'll catch you later Miles. Just don't run off again okay?"

Miles nodded. Phil stayed another few seconds, and then hesitantly walked out the door. Caitlin took one last look at Miles and smiled.

"Goodnight Miles" she said, "I'll be here first thing tomorrow"

She followed Phil out of the aquarium. Laura, who had remained in the corner for the reunion, waved to Miles, "I'll see you here bright and early" she said. She glanced at Jackson, "Don't hurt him, alright?"

"I wouldn't do anything like that!" said Jackson, pretending to be shocked.

"I wasn't talking to you" Laura smirked. Miles couldn't help laughing. Jackson poked his tongue out at her and they both left the room, leaving Miles alone in the tank.

Miles floated down to the bottom of the tank and stared through the display window. He had often looked through this very same window, but now instead of watching the fish he _was_ the fish. It was ironic, in a way.

Miles heard a door open. He looked through the glass and to his surprise he saw his mother. She walked into the room and said something. Her voice was muffled by the glass, but he could still hear the words.

"Miles? Miles?"

She turned around and looked through the glass of the display tank. She saw Miles and gasped.

For the first time in months, Miles saw his mother. She was worn out, he could tell from the bags under her eyes. And she seemed timid and frightened, as if something was going to jump out of the shadows and whisk her away.

_I'm sorry Mom._ Miles thought, _I'm so sorry…_

He pressed his front legs against the glass. His mother hesitated, and then she moved closer and put her hand against the glass too.

"Miles…" she said, "It's you"

Her lips trembled. Silent tears fell from her eyes and dripped down her cheeks, and she bit her lip to try and control the emotions boiling inside her.

It didn't matter if Miles couldn't talk. Words couldn't have come near to describing exactly what he felt at that moment.

---

The weeks went by. Jackson, Laura and Rich were constantly working to supply a cure for the others, and Caitlin and Phil visited Miles everyday. Miles's mother came by every few days, but mostly she had to stay and work on the house with Miles's father and Savannah.

A week later Miles was given the second cure. It wasn't until a week after _that_ that things started to happen.

---

Caitlin sat on a chair by the tank, humming to a song on the radio.

"_I can be you're hero baby…I can kiss away the pain oh yeah…"_

She turned the radio up and joined in with the singing. Her voice was terribly flat, but who would care? No-one was listening anyway.

"You know" said a voice, "I _really_ hate that song"

Caitlin whirled around and saw Miles, who was floating at the edge of the tank with what looked like a grin on his face. Caitlin stared at him gob smacked for a moment, then pointed.

"Did you just…" she stuttered, "Did you just…talk?"

Miles stared at her, then cleared his throat,

"It's not like they removed my vocal chords" he said matter-of-factly, "I just couldn't speak _English_"

Caitlin jumped up and hugged him, "You can talk! You can talk!" she kissed him on the forehead, "Thank you Jackson…"

"Seriously though" said Miles, "I really do hate that song"

Caitlin frowned, and then turned to the radio, which was still blaring out the same song. She grinned,

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way" she said mockingly, "But until you get cured…" she wagged her finger, "I've got control of the radio"

Miles shrugged, "Okay. As long as you stop that terrible singing"

Caitlin glared at him and punched him playfully on the shoulder. It seemed like everything was going to be alright.

---

A couple of days later, Phil came in to see Caitlin kneeling next to Miles, who was moaning quietly on the floor.

"What happened?" he asked, instantly worried.

"I don't know" said Caitlin, "I just came in and he was like this"

"I don't feel so good…" groaned Miles, clutching his stomach. Phil ran out of the room and returned a moment later with a bucket, which he placed beside Miles.

"You look a bit green there dude" he commented.

Miles glared at him, "My _whole body_ is green" he said harshly. Then he gagged and dipped his head in the bucket.

"I'll go get Jackson" said Caitlin. She rushed out of the room, leaving Phil alone with Miles.

"I feel really sick" murmured Miles from inside the bucket.

"It's okay. Caitlin is going to get help" reassured Phil. He hoped the treatments hadn't backfired. Caitlin returned, followed by Jackson.

"I can't believe this" he was muttering, "I'm working twenty four seven here, I can't be expected to…" He saw Miles with his head in the bucket, and his mouth formed a silent "Oh".

"What's happening?" asked Caitlin "Was this supposed to happen in the first place?"

"It's just a side effect from the healing powers" explained Jackson, "He's getting that fever all over again. We just have to up the dose on that cure…"

He walked out of the room and came back with a bottle of the red liquid, which he opened. He walked over to Miles, and then flinched when Miles emptied the entire contents of his stomach into the bucket.

"Urk" he said, "Why did I have to get this job?"

He kneeled down next to Miles, and tapped him on the shoulder. When Miles looked up he gently grabbed his throat.

"Open wide" he said. Miles opened his mouth and Jackson poured the contents of the bottle into his mouth. Miles coughed and tried to spit out the liquid, but Jackson held his head up and massaged his throat until he swallowed.

"There we go" he said, letting go of Miles's throat, "You should feel a bit better now"

He took out another bottle from his pocket and tossed it to Phil.

"Six drops of that every two hours." said Jackson, "He should recover in a couple of days. You guys might want to stay overnight in case anything happens. Oh, and someone might want to empty that bucket"

As quick as he had come, he left. Caitlin glanced at Phil, who put his hands up and shook his head.

"Oh no. I'm not doing it. He's your boyfriend"

"You've been friends longer" Caitlin pointed out.

Phil glanced at Miles, who was still coughing, and then sighed. He picked up the bucket, scrunching his nose as he did so.

"It's going to be a long night" he murmured as he went to empty the bucket.

---

Miles's fever wore off after a few days. As the days went on, things began to change. The joints in Miles's fins started to resemble hands again, his tail grew shorter and his eyes started to become less slitted and more rounded. And then one morning it finally happened.

---

When Miles woke up, it took him a moment to realise he wasn't breathing.

Alarms went off in his brain, and his whole body began to scream for air. He needed air; he wanted it so much…

One swift kick and he was up and out of the water, gulping up oxygen like he'd never breathe again. When he had had enough oxygen to regain his senses, he looked around.

Everything was the same. And yet he felt different somehow, detached from the world around him. Then he looked down and saw his hands.

They were hands. Real human hands. He ran them up his arms and grinned when he felt skin instead of scales, and he looked into the water and saw his fins had turned into feet.

"I'm back!" he shouted joyously, "I'm BACK!"

He heard footsteps and Jackson rushed into the room, "What's the problem?"

He stared at Miles for a moment, and then smiled, "Great. It worked! Welcome back kid"

Miles punched he air with his fist, "I feel great! Brilliant! I can't wait until Caitlin gets here…"

Jackson snorted. Miles stopped celebrating and stared at him, "What? What's wrong?"

Jackson laughed, "You might want to get some clothes on before anyone comes"

Miles blushed. He had lost his clothes before he'd crashed into the ferry.

"I'll grab some for you" said Jackson. He walked out of the room, still laughing like he was Father Christmas.

"Thanks" mumbled Miles half-heartedly.

_Look out world._ He thought._ Miles is back and he's going to make the most of it._

_---_

Miles is back! YAY! Sorry this chapter took a while I kept editing and re-editing it over and over again…

I guess I owe a thank you to Nimster57 and SkyHighFan for telling me that Dr. Morris's first name was actually Samantha. Big whoops. Changing ASAP.

Thank you to Spastic Basket Case, DarkPsion, Pessimistic Romanticist, williamjamesw, Celandine and desy for the reviews! Wow that's a lot of people! And thank you peppaoceangal and SkyHighFan for you're continuous support and supply of info! You all rock!


	15. Callings

Hi people!

Yeah I know I haven't updated for ages, and you are free to hurt me :holds hands up in defence:

I hope you aren't to mad at me…hopefully they will all go a bit quicker now but you know me…

Anyway, enjoy despite the wait!

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface…big surprise there…

Callings.

Miles sat outside the doors to the aquarium, watching as a car pulled up in the car park. He was dressed in some of Jackson's old clothes, a shirt that was too big for him and a pair of old jeans, and he felt nervous.

_What if she doesn't recognise me? It's been a while since I looked like this._

The car stopped. Caitlin hopped out of the driver's side and looked up. Miles saw her squint, then jump as she realised who it was.

"Miles!" she shouted. She ran towards him at full speed and barrelled into him, pulling him into her embrace and almost knocking him off the seat.

"Miles! You're back!"

Miles grinned, "Yeah, I'm back. Again"

Caitlin kissed him, "It worked! You're cured!"

"Not yet. I've still got to take the tablets"

Caitlin waved her hand, "Whatever. Don't be a pedant and ruin it for me"

She pulled him up from where he was sitting and tried to walk him into the aquarium. Miles tried to stand up, then tripped and fell over.

"What's wrong with you?" said Caitlin jokingly, "You're like a floppy rag doll"

"Hey!" Miles said as he tried to pull himself up, "I've been living underwater and walking on four feet for three months. You're practically weightless underwater."

"That's you're excuse" said Caitlin, giggling, "Personally I just think you're lazy."

Miles poked his tongue out and laughed. Caitlin pulled him up and grinned,

"Listen, I have to go in and get Dad's laptop. Wait here a moment, and then I'll take you home."

"Sounds cool" said Miles, "I'll be here"

Caitlin disappeared inside the aquarium. Miles waited for a few seconds, and then he heard an engine. He turned around and saw another car pulling into the car park. At first he thought it was Phil, but then he realised it wasn't Phil's car.

_Who's that?_

The car stopped. A woman hopped out of the car.

_Oh my god._

The woman took one look at Miles and shouted something. She ran towards him.

"Miles!" she was shouting, "Miles!"

The woman came closer, and then stopped in front of him. Her eyes quickly filled with tears.

"Miles" she whispered, "It's you"

Miles hugged her, "Mom" he whispered, his own eyes swelling up with tears.

He heard the car doors slam and saw his dad and Savannah running up towards him. They were both smiling, genuine smiles of relief and happiness. They joined the embrace and the family just stayed like that, caught in the moment too perfect for words.

---

Caitlin walked out of the aquarium carrying her Dad's laptop,

"Miles, I…"

She stopped when she saw Miles and his family. She stared for a moment, and then she smiled and walked quietly towards the car.

Whatever she had to say could wait.

---

Miles was sitting in the car on the way home with his parents. He felt so happy…he'd never been happier. Savannah was sitting in the back with him, and she couldn't help glancing at him every few minutes.

"Could you stop that?" said Miles, "You're freaking me out!"

"Sorry" apologised Savannah, "But if you remember the last time I saw you was on the beach when you were a giant lizard."

She fell silent. Miles grinned at her and she grinned back.

"Sorry to interrupt" said Sylvia from the front seat, "But your father and I have something we want to talk to you about."

Miles could instantly tell they'd been planning this, and he could guess what it was about. But he stayed silent.

"Now," began his mother, "We know that you and Nimrod are close friends…but you can understand we are a bit worried abut having him in the house. Considering what you and the rest of us have been through I'm sure you'll understand if we never want you to see that creature again."

Miles lowered his head sadly. He somehow knew that it would come to this, and his mother was right, after all they'd been through he _could_ understand. Savannah looked at him worriedly and turned to Sylvia,

"But Mom, don't you think that's a bit harsh? Nim did save Miles' life, after all."

Miles looked up at his sister in admiration, but before he could speak his mother began again.

"I'm not finished" she said, "I'm sure you can understand if we never want you to see him again, _however_" she paused, "Your father and I know how much Nim means to you. So you can keep him."

Miles' eyes grew wide, "Are you serious?"

His mother pursed her lips and nodded, "At least until he grows to big. I don't want a giant lizard eating us out of house and home, thank you."

Miles cheered and punched the air with a tightly clenched fist, "Yes! I love you guys so much!"

His mother relaxed and smiled into the rear view mirror.

"So do we." she said.

---

Laura rubbed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the book she was reading, but the words just swam in front of her eyes until she grew dizzy. Giving up, she put the book down and turned off her bedside light.

It was late, and it had been a big day. She'd had to go around giving the creatures countless bottles of antidote, and she was tired. She hadn't even been able to say goodbye to Miles.

_I'll see him tomorrow,_ she thought sleepily as she climbed into her soft and electric-blanket warm bed (a vast improvement from a cold rooftop). She shut her eyes, and had almost fallen asleep when the phone rang.

"Who calls this late at night?" she grumbled, turning on the light and picking up the phone that lay on the bedside table.

"Hello?" she answered groggily.

"Evening Dr. Daughtery."

Laura instantly snapped out of her daze. She knew that voice.

"What do you want?"

"I want to help" replied Davis Lee, "I've only got a short amount of time. Have you got a pen and paper?"

Laura scrabbled through the draws in her table and pulled out a notepad and pencil, "Yep."

"Ok. You know where Iderdex is, right? At eleven 'o' clock tomorrow night the security will be overridden at the bottom of Marinas Trench. Inside the door you will find two lab coats with I.D cards that will get you in. When you get in, the man you are looking for is David Granger. You have about two hours to get in, find out what you want and get out. Got all that?"

"Eleven, Marinas trench, David Granger, two hours" Laura repeated, "Yep, I've got it."

Laura paused, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because," said Lee, "What they are doing down here is wrong. And it has to stop."

Suddenly, Laura heard a voice in the background,

"Hey! What are you doing?"

The phone went dead. Laura shakily dropped the receiver into its holder.

Just when she thought things were over, something else had to crop up. Just when she'd got back to Jessie, she had to go away and leave him again. She remembered what Circko had told her at the beginning of it all,

_You, of all people, should know life isn't fair._

She had to do what had to be done. Making a final decision, she picked up the phone and called Jackson. She waited anxiously for him to answer, and when he finally did he sounded in a terrible mood.

"What the hell are you calling me now for Dee?" asked Jackson groggily, "It's, like, midnight for f—"

"Jackson" Laura said, "I need you to call Miles and Caitlin. Tell them we need to meet at the aquarium tomorrow morning"

"What's gotten into you?" asked Jackson impatiently, "Are you okay?"

"Just do it Jackson!" said Laura, annoyed. Then her voice became grim, "We have to make a trip to the bottom of the earth."

---

Thanks Spastic Basket Case, 2footnim, desy and ILGH for the reviews, and as usual thatnks peppaoceangal and SkyHighFan I am in you debt! Seriously…


	16. Answers

Hello!

Okay guys, I'll admit it, I was a bit slack with this one. I ran into some trouble with it...plus I've been concentrating on my Fictionpress stories and I've been trying to finish school at the same time. It's almost end of year though, and my extension class is almost over, so this should all run faster over the next few weeks. But...well...you know me...

Enjoy, but don't kill me please...

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface...but I do own ever dasterdly plot in this story, AND Iderdex's security system! Yay!

---

Answers.

"Are you serious?!"

Laura bit her lip, the light of the aquarium exaggerating her features, "Yes. I'm as serious as I will ever be."

"How can you even trust this guy?" said Rich accusingly, "He tried to kill us!"

"I agree with Rich" said Caitlin, "Whoever this guy is he doesn't sound trustworthy. It could be a trap."

"There is a big difference between 'could be' and 'is'" remarked Phil, "I say we give it a shot."

"But…" stuttered Rich.

"Look" snapped Laura, "There is something I didn't tell you before. When I went to see Jesse, Shaun called Lee to take me away to an asylum. But Lee had orders to kill me instead. And you know what? He didn't."

"Obviously" commented Jackson.

"I say that's good enough reason, don't you?" said Phil.

"So what? He let you off once because he wanted to get away from the tsunami!" argued Rich, "Laura, this guy is a clone! _He has no soul_!"

Nimrod chirped, something that sounded like and agreement. An argument began to roar across the table, until Miles, who had remained quiet until now, hit his fist against the table, causing several glasses to quake.

"Is _anyone_ going to ask _my_ opinion?" he asked. The others fell silent, and Miles surveyed them one by one.

"I think," Miles began slowly, "That we should try it. It may be our only chance to get down there and find out what's going on, so we should take it. Besides, we've been lucky so far. You took a chance when you were getting me off the ferry, and we got away. You took a chance when you were cracking the code for the cylinder, and you opened it. I took a chance by standing up against the creatures, and I stopped them. We can do it"

The group was silent, and then Caitlin spoke up,

"We still have the problem that our families have only just got us back. We can't just go sneaking off on them again."

"We have to" said Laura, "If we tell them they could be in danger. They might go looking for us there and get caught."

Rich groaned, remembering his promise to Tracy. She was never going to forgive him if he left again…

"We have to tell them something" he said, "They'll get suspicious if we don't."

"Okay…" said Miles, "We all decided to stay behind at the aquarium tonight to help administer the cure."

"Good enough" said Laura, "We'll meet back here at seven. No later or we might not get there in time, we have no idea how long that tunnel is."

"Alright" said Jackson, "Meet here at seven. I'll stay behind; someone's gotta see that the work gets done. If you get into trouble I can cover for you."

"Alright." agreed Rich, "If we aren't back before one…then you can send backup."

Jackson nodded. Miles picked up the phone and dialled his parents,

"Mom? Hey, it's me. Yeah, I'm at the aquarium. I was wondering, can I stay behind tonight, Jackson wants some help…"

---

At quarter to seven, five people met outside the aquarium.

"Ready?" whispered Laura.

"Nope." whispered Phil back, "But I guess we'll be going anyway. Let's hop to it!"

Laura knew Phil's efforts to lighten the atmosphere was failing as they got into her car and pulled out of the aquarium car park.

The trip was a quiet one. Laura was driving, trying to concentrate on the road instead of the destination; Rich was staring out of the window worrying about Tracy. Phil was half exited, and half scared to death about what they were going to do, Caitlin was worried about her father, and Miles was distractedly petting Nimrod. Caitlin looked over at him and placed her hand on top of his.

"Hey" she whispered, "We'll be fine. Promise."

Miles grinned slightly at her, but she could see what his eyes were saying.

"Nothing can go wrong" she pursued, "We have a plan. After this it'll all be over."

Miles grinned at her again, and then turned to the window. Caitlin sighed and returned to her own thoughts. Miles, meanwhile, was contemplating her words.

_It'll all be over._

_Yeah right_, he thought bitterly. Even if they stopped the operation, even if he finally got around to taking the pills that would get rid of his powers, it wouldn't be over. This kind of battle just couldn't be won that easily.

Someone was going to get hurt. He just hoped it wasn't going to be them.

---

Laura parked the car outside of the Iderdex docking bay and hopped out of the seat.

"Alright guys. We've got some walking to do."

All five of them walked through the docking bay and into the maze of cryogenic coolers. Caitlin and Phil gasped.

"Wow, dude!" commented Phil "That's just so…sci-fi."

"This must have cost millions" commented Caitlin, running her finger down the pristine cylinders, "Billions."

Nimrod went up to one of the cylinders and began to make cooing noises at his reflection. Rich snorted in amusement.

"Wait till you see what's down _there_." He said, pointing, "This place goes on for miles."

The group continued down the corridor. The only sound they could hear was the tapping of their footsteps against the murky, metal floor.

"It's so quiet." Said Laura, "I would have thought that everyone would have come back after the water drained. Where do we go now?"

"This way." pointed Miles.

They went around a couple of corners, and then suddenly the floor sloped down in front of them.

"The monorail track" said Laura, "We're here."

The group stepped onto the track, and then turned. In front of them was a gaping hole, stretching for miles, the darkness creeping out of its edges as if it was going to swallow them into its dark abyss.

Caitlin gulped, "Is that…"

"Marinas Trench." said Rich, "Right down to the earth's core."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Phil, apparently unnerved by the idea of walking to the earths centre, "Let's go! It's already nine forty!"

And so they set ahead, down the tunnel. The walk seemed worse that the drive, there was complete solitude. Each step brought new dread as they went down, down through the tunnel, down through the earth. It got darker as they went on, and eventually it was so dark Rich had to bring out his torch, which gave an excuse to rest.

"Freaking hell" cursed Rich as he collapsed on the rail, and began rubbing his leg, "How long have we been walking?"

"I'd say about an hour" said Phil, "Hard to tell down here. Feels like longer."

"Feels like eternity" commented Miles sourly. Caitlin gave him a concerned glance but he didn't seem to notice.

Rich fumbled in his bag for the torch and then he finally pulled it out and turned it on. Suddenly he jumped back,

"Holy shit! Laura, look!"

Laura turned to where the light shone and squinted. Then she jumped up.

"Guys! We made it! Look!"

Rich was shining the light on a door, an aluminium panel with a steel handle. And, as Laura went over to see it better, something beeped and the door clicked.

Phil moved his watch into the light, "It's eleven 'o' clock."

Laura slowly moved towards the door and pulled the handle. Surprisingly, the door slid open under her fingertips.

"Well guys" Laura said, a hint of fear in her voice, "It's now or never."

Carefully, tentatively, the group walked through the door.

Inside was a small chamber with another door at the side. On one side were two matching white lab coats. Laura ran over to them and began putting one on while Rich grabbed the other.

"Okay." Laura said, "Let's get our story straight. We found you three intruders trying to get through this entrance, and we are taking you to the main office for questioning."

"What about Nimrod?" asked Phil.

"We can hide him. It'll be fine." Laura replied.

They moved over to the second door. Next to it was a slot in the wall, and Laura fumbled in the pockets to find the fake id. She pulled it out and slid it through the slot, which beeped at her, and then made a clicking noise as the door opened.

Miles looked at the open door, then back at Nimrod. He bit his lip.

"Maybe we shouldn't be doing this." He said hesitantly, "What if they catch Nim? Then it'll all start again…" he trailed off.

Rich rolled his eyes and crossed his arms impatiently, "Leave him then! _Let's just go!_"

"But…but…" Miles stuttered, his earlier confidence disappearing. There was so much that could go wrong with this plan…

Phil looked at his friend and sighed. He patted him on the shoulder,

"Look, dude, I'll take care of Nim. That way, if you guys get in trouble I can call someone on the cell."

Miles grinned apologetically, "Thanks Phil. You're the best, man. Sorry you didn't get to come on the adventure much…"

Phil shrugged, "Anything for a friend. Besides, you know me; I'm not the adventurous type."

"_Come on!_" urged Rich, "We have to go now! We've already wasted enough time!"

With one last glance at his friend, Miles walked through with Laura. Caitlin followed Rich, and then the door clicked shut behind them.

Phil stood there for a minute, and then Nimrod made a gurgling noise.

"Yeah, I know man." Phil said, "Waiting _sucks._"

---

On the other side of the door, Laura, Rich, Miles and Caitlin were standing, looking around in awe.

This place was _huge._ Like outside, it had lots of cryogenic stores, but the ones out there were petty compared to the giant, pristine cylinders that lined the walls. People kept walking over to them and pressing a few buttons on a small screen, and then opening a door on the side, taking something out and walking away. There were people all over the place, and over their voices was the roaring of air conditioners running non-stop to keep the building cool. Staircases and corridors criss-crossed the area, and on the roof was a giant infinity sign.

"I think we've got the right place." commented Caitlin.

They stared for a few more seconds at the amazing sight before them; and then a man with short, brown hair and a tanned complexion came up to them.

"You!" he asked, "What are you doing here?"

For a minute Laura was afraid he recognised her from the television, and then she realised he was talking to Miles and Caitlin.

"Intruders" she said calmly, "I found them hiding behind one of the coolers. Must have buggered the security right to get in. David asked me to take em' straight up."

The man chuckled, "The boss wants them? Must have done something pretty nasty to be wanted by David." He leaned close to Miles and Caitlin, "By the time he's done with you two, they'll be nothing left…"

Miles and Caitlin gulped and huddled together, playing the part. The man chuckled again and began to walk off, until Laura coughed,

"Uh…where is David?"

The man turned around and looked at her suspiciously, "You new or something? Let me see your id."

Laura handed him the fake id. The man looked it over, and then handed it back.

"Go down two floors in the elevator over there." He pointed to an elevator in between two of the giant cylinders, "His office is the first on the right. Good luck" he said, glancing pointedly at Miles and Caitlin, "_You'll_ certainly need it."

He walked off and began talking to someone else. Laura grabbed Miles and Caitlin by their collars,

"Right kids" she said in a rough tone, "Let's go."

She and Rich dragged them to the elevator, Miles and Caitlin pretending to shiver with fear. The got into the elevator and Laura pressed the button labelled two. There were a few clunks from gears, and then they started their decent.

"It's working." Caitlin whispered, "It's actually working!"

"Told you we'd get in." commented Miles smugly, his confidence returning.

The elevator continued for a few seconds, and then everyone felt their stomachs rolling as the elevator came to a stop. There was a beeping noise and the elevator opened.

The four walked out into a corridor. It seemed to stretch forever, endless doors leading to endless places.

Laura pointed to the nearest door, "First on the right."

They walked up to the door. The glass was distorted, but through it they could see the silhouette of a desk, and a man…

"On the count of three." said Laura, gripping the handle.

"One…two…three!"

Laura pushed the handle and the four burst through the door. The man at the desk, who had previously been typing on the computer, turned to them, and Laura finally got a good glance at what he looked like. His skin was pale, his hair was slightly grey, and his pristine black suit gave a faint impression of his rank in the firm. As they each came through the door, he frowned, creases rolling across his smooth features.

"What the…?"

That was all he managed to say before Rich punched him, knocking him out cold.

---

David's eyelids fluttered. His head, his head hurt. Why did his head hurt? He tried to move his arms, but they seemed stuck to his body…

He opened his eyes.

Rich and Laura were sitting in front of him, eyeing him suspiciously. Miles and Caitlin were standing by the door, occasionally opening it a fraction to make sure no-one was coming. David looked down and noticed that he was tied to a chair, and when he noticed what he was tied up with, he laughed.

"Computer cable" he said, "How quaint."

"You're awake." commented Laura.

"Wouldn't have noticed." replied David.

"Okay, stop with the smart-ass bullshit." said Rich harshly, "If you don't mind, we'd like to ask you a few questions."

"I do mind a little actually." Said David with a smirk.

"Too bad." Smiled Rich as he pulled his shotgun out of his inside pocket, "I'll say this again, we'd like to ask you some questions."

David glances at the gun, "Ask away."

Laura turned to Miles, who nodded and then locked the door. She turned back to David.

"Who runs Iderdex?" she asked, "Where did it start?"

"It all started when we found the orchid." Explained David, "Or, more accurately, Kessler found it. Kessler was a child prodigy, when he was five years old he could state every continent in the world and by the time he was twelve he'd finished college. He was a man with big ambitions, he was. When he found the orchid, he ran some tests on it, and when he found out that it fed on electricity he started to wonder how he could make more of the plants. That's what started his career in genomics. Eventually he began to see the bigger picture, and he started the firm so that others who shared his dreams could work to make a better world."

"Who is Davis Lee?"

"Davis Lee was Kessler's best friend. A fellow scientist. He wasn't as smart as Kessler, but that man was bright. Before he died, he asked Kessler to clone him, so he could live on. The current Davis Lee is one of our best agents."

Laura remembered the conversation they'd had last night, but pushed it out of her mind.

"Where is Kessler now?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Kessler is dead. He discovered something, a great discovery, and it drove him mad. I took over for him a few months ago."

"What did he discover?"

David grinned, "He discovered a way to almost cheat death. To never grow old. And in the end, he took it to his watery grave."

"What did you do before you created the creatures?"

David didn't speak for a moment, until Rich cocked the gun.

"We ran some tests on various animal genes." He said hastily, "We were trying to create a new species that would save the world. And some of our tests succeeded."

"I met one of them" said Rich, "A big monkey that almost killed me. It sounded like a little girl."

"There were…casualties" David said, "Some of the experiments were not as successful as we would have hoped. That experiment was one of our early trials. The child turned against us unfortunately, we had to leave it when we evacuated"

Laura stared at him in horror, "Wait, you experimented on _children_?"

David smirked, "I've always found young genes are the best for early tests."

Laura's mind was burning with hate, and she was about to open her mouth when Miles spoke.

"Why did you do it?" he asked.

David grinned, "I'm sure you must have figured it out by now. We wanted to cleanse the world, start over. We polluted nature, and now we are going to culture a new race of humans. As soon as the creatures finish they're work, we'll get rid of them and the world is our oyster."

Rich tapped his watch at Miles, and he and Caitlin began to unlock the door.

"You think this is all a game, don't you?" said Laura, "It's just one big game where you play with God, and the prize is life. But it's not just a maze with stupid lab rats. People have _died_"

David smiled evilly, "Yes, but what are people but animals? And it is much more than a game Doctor Daughtery, it is a scientific breakthrough. And I can't let you stand in the way of the future."

Something in Laura clicked, "Hold on, how do you know my…?"

"The security may have been cut off in the main entrance" said David, "But we have backup security cameras mounted on the doorframe. We know exactly who you are."

Laura's face paled and her eyes grew wide, "Miles! Don't open the…"

Miles jumped back, but the door burst open anyway as several security guards filed through the door. Laura heard something whizzing through the air, and then she felt something pierce her arm. She was out before she hit the floor.

---

Thanks to everyone who reveiwed in this long waiting time! Sorry i can't metion you all because I don't have the reveiw list with me, but I still love you guys for sticking with it! As usual, SkyHighFan and peppaoceangal rock...and you are all the best!


	17. Capture

Look at that! Only a few days this time! Yeah! And the art lines are working again! Yay!!!!!!! 

In this chapter, Phil gets a bit annoyed, and we find someone we havn't seen for a while...

Enjoy! Once again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Surface at all. I don't even own the dvd. I know, it's sad...

* * *

Capture

Phil paced the outside of the door impatiently, occasionally looking at his watch and then returning to pacing again. Nimrod was exploring the cylinders, and occasionally he would come over to Phil and watch him expectantly. After the fifth time of doing this, Phil turned to him.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Nim squawked at him and ran through the door to the middle chamber. Phil rolled his eyes.

"I know you want to go, but we've got to _stay out here_."

Even his words were weak. It just wasn't fair. _He_ was the one who found the egg with Miles, _he_ was the one who helped raise Nim, but no, he was just the one on the outside. It reminded him of the poor kid who gets to play a tree in the school play. The more he thought about it, the more his temper flared.

_Well, I'm not going to stay outside for once…_

Phil checked his watch. It was only 11:30. With confidence in his stride, he made his way into the middle chamber. Nimrod was sitting by the door, and when he saw Phil he cooed at him and pawed at the door. "That's right little buddy." Phil said, "We're going in."

Nimrod squawked, and Phil's face fell when he realised they were locked out. He frowned and scratched his head,

"Okay…how do we get in?"

Nimrod stopped pawing the door and looked at Phil, then turned his head to the slot in the wall. There was nothing for a second, and then a bolt of electricity hit the slot and evaporated into the wall. The slot beeped twice and its lights flashed, then it died and smoke poured out into the room.

Nimrod looked back at Phil, satisfied. Phil stared at the door in astonishment as it clicked open. Nimrod gave a proud squawk and Phil nodded his head.

"You know, I can see what Miles likes about you, little buddy. You got talent."

* * *

Damien Ferris was sitting in one of the various security booths surrounding the underground building, and to tell the truth he was very bored. He glanced at a couple of surveillance screens, flicked a fly across the room and sighed.

Damien was your average security guard. Tall, muscly, headstrong, but a brain the size of a peanut. And right now, Damien's brain was throbbing with boredom. To tell the truth, nothing much happened when you were guarding a high security, secret underground laboratory surrounded by water.

Suddenly, there was a crackling noise, and his friend Jarrod spoke into the intercom,

"Hey, D man!"

"Hey J bird, what's the story?"

"It's a one nine Damien, the doctor chick. We got the bitch."

Damien clapped his hands together, _Yes! Some excitement!_

He ran to the wall to get his guns. He didn't notice as a boy and a lizard sprinted past the front surveillance camera.

* * *

Laura felt dazed and sleepy. Her eyes felt like anchors pulling themselves across her eyes, and her neck was surprisingly sore. Groaning, she forced her eyes to open a little, and was greeted with a foggy outline of a room.

_Jesus Christ…what the hell happened…_

"Dr. Daughtery" came a voice, "You are awake. About time too."

Laura instantly snapped out of her daze. Her vision cleared, and she saw she was in a room. The walls were grey with a green tinge, and there was a machine sitting in a corner, flashing. And at the door was a man surrounded by security guards.

"David." Laura said, grinding her teeth.

"How the tides have turned, Dr. Daughtery." Said David, looking up at her and smiling.

"Where are we?" Laura asked.

"You are now in a secure metal harness attached to this machine." David pointed to the machine in the corner and Laura saw the cables attached to it, "In a very secure room with a master lock that has over sixty million possible combinations. You won't be going anywhere soon."

There was a groan beside her, and Laura turned to see Rich, Miles and Caitlin strapped up beside her. Rich rolled his head and opened his eyes,

"Ugh…what happened?"

"I feel dizzy…" said Caitlin from beside him.

"Where are we?" came Miles' slurred voice.

David laughed, "No doubt you are all feeling a bit quesy after the injections. No matter, you'll get over it in a minute."

"Injections?" asked Caitlin, instantly alert, "What injections?"

David grinned, "Oh, that's right, you weren't awake. While you were sleeping we ran a few tests on you. Considering the creatures have failed, it seemed fit to start again. And it's all thanks to you. See, we would have never known the creatures had failed if you hadn't shown up."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, when we built this place, we built it so nothing could come in, unfortunately that included news and information. Until you turned up, we assumed that our factory was still submerged underwater. But now we know our plan failed, so we can start again."

"You bastard." Growled Laura, "When we get out of here…"

"Oh there is minimal chance of that." Said David, "If you managed to get out of the harness, we'd put you right back into it. And even if you got out of here, the injections we gave should start working in half an hour. Unless we administer a healing chromosome into you after that, your body will reject the genes in your bloodstream and you'll be dead within two hours. And besides, you can't leave the compound. We've planted a chip in your brain that, if it goes under the main entrance, will pick up a signal and detonate, killing you instantly. Either way, it's a poor situation to be in."

Laura gritted her teeth but said nothing. David came over and made to lean onto the metal harness, but as soon as he touched the surface he suddenly jumped back.

"What is it boss?" asked a burly security guard.

David flexed his fingers, "Nothing…just a static shock." He said.

He looked up at the four suspended prisoners and waved.

"Goodbye, my friends. Enjoy your new home."

"I hope you burn in hell, you fucking bastard!" screamed Laura as he turned away, "_I hope you burn in hell!_"

Laura threw herself forward and the harness rocked on its foundations. David shut the door behind him.

"Laura!" shouted Rich, "_Laura!_ Calm down!"

Rich was thoroughly freaked out. He'd never seen Laura so angry…

"Laura!_ Snap out of it!_"

Laura stopped moving. She stopped shouting, and took a deep breath. She shut her eyes, "Sorry…sorry."

There was a few seconds of silence, and then Caitlin began to sob.

"We're going to die…" she cried, "We're going to die…"

"No we aren't' Caitlin" said Miles from beside her, "Look at me. _Look at me._ We are not going to die, okay?"

Caitlin continued to cry. The tears splattered in fat drops onto the concrete floor, spreading out and creating little star-shaped puddles on the concrete floor.

* * *

Phil sprinted across the room, fervently hoping nobody had seen him. Considering the place was teeming with people, it was highly likely. Nobody was shouting at him though, so he might have got away with it…

"Hey!"

_Shit. Oh well…_

Nimrod ran beside him, his feet surprisingly silent on the cold, slippery floor. Phil slid around a corner and sprinted into an elevator. The door shut behind him just as someone walked around the corner.

_Phew. That was easy…_

Suddenly, and alarm went off. Phil swore and picked a random number, number four, on the elevator wall. Nimrod squealed at him as the elevator began its ascent upwards, and Phil rubbed his hands together as his nerves peaked.

_Too late to back out now…I'm on the inside._

The elevator beeped and the door opened. Phil poked his head out, ready to shut the door, and then sprinted out with Nimrod on his tail.

Through the corridors, up the stairs…none of the rooms the passed gave any indication of being an office owned by a man named David. Phil hoped he'd picked the right floor…

Phil sprinted around the corner, slightly panicking now. Everywhere looked the same, and he felt like he was going around in circles. He rounded one corner, and suddenly hit something hard.

Phil crashed to the floor. When he had recovered slightly, he looked up into the eyes of a security guard.

_Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit._

Damien smiled at Phil, "Hey, here's something new. How'd you get in here?"

"Um…through the front door?" said Phil with a weak grin.

Damien shook his head, "Don't play jokes with me." He pulled out his gun, "I haven't been able to do this in years…"

Suddenly, there was a flash of green light. Damien screamed and collapsed onto the floor beside Phil. He twitched for a moment, and then lay still.

Phil looked down. Nimrod was sitting in front of him with a smug look on his face. Phil held his thumbs up.

"Thanks buddy."

Nimrod squawked what Phil assumed was a "You're welcome."

Phil leaned over to Damien and checked he was still alive. He was breathing, but he defiantly wouldn't wake up for a while. Taking advantage of this, Phil reached over and pried the gun out of his hands, tucking it safely into the rim of his pants. Ruffling through Damien's pockets he found a ring of keys.

_Awesome! Finally something good!_

Phil tucked the keys into his pocket and then walked down the corridor. He didn't want to run into anyone else, thank you…

He came around the corner and saw a door labeled "Testing Bay 505". He looked through the glass, but it was so foggy he couldn't see inside it. He was about to move on when he heard something.

"Hello? Hello? Is anybody there?"

Phil debated whether he should answer. Before he could the voice spoke again.

"Hello? Is that David? _Hello?!_ Can somebody give me some water?"

The voice was male, and it sounded tired. Phil took out the set of keys. He flicked them around until he found one he wanted. The key was labeled _Master Key_ in big block letters on the top.

_Gee, that security guard was thick…_

Phil put the key in the lock and turned. In one smooth motion the door opened, and Phil saw what was inside.

The room was like a hospital. Big, and so white Phil almost had to squint. Machines lined every inch of the wall, and in the middle of it was a hospital-style bed. In the bed was a man.

The man was tanned with pointed features. He had very short, shaven hair and neat eyebrows which were raised above his deep brown eyes. There were wrinkles under those eyes, and the man just looked generally down-trodden. Wires were poking out from what seemed like every inch of his body.

He looked up, "Who are you?" he asked in his tired voice.

Phil frowned, "Question is, who are you?"

"I am Davis Lee" said the man, "How did you get in here?"

Phil frowned. Wasn't that…?

"Hold on." He said, holding his hands up, "You are _the_ Davis Lee? The guy who contacted Laura?"

Davis nodded, "Dr. Daughtery is here?"

Phil nodded. Lee groaned, "No…this wasn't meant to happen…"

Phil frowned, "What are you talking about?"

Lee groaned again, "It was a trap. They tapped into my call. And now I've put you all in danger…"

Phil stared at him. Laura, Rich, Caitlin, Miles…they were all in danger! He had to find them…

"Do you know where they are?" Phil asked.

Lee nodded, "I'll take you there…if you help me get out of here."

Phil shook his head, "Why should I trust you?"

Lee sighed "Because, frankly, I am the only one who can help you."

Phil hesitated, and then he gave in. "What do I have to do?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Laura, Rich, Miles and Caitlin weren't fairing very well.

"How long do you think it's been?" asked Miles.

"Ten, fifteen minutes." Guessed Laura, "Bit hard to tell in here."

"Do you feel anything?"

Laura shrugged, "Not really. But then again, when you went through it I bet you didn't feel a thing."

Miles nodded. Laura turned to him, "It's funny, just when you'd finally gotten rid of it it's all starting again."

Miles blushed and looked down. Rich frowned, "Miles?"

Miles bit his lip, "Uh…when you say I'd gotten rid of it…that's not entirely true."

Caitlin frowned, "But you took the cure…we gave it to you!"

Miles grinned, "But you didn't see me take the pills."

There was silence. Rich stared at him, "You didn't take the pills? Why not?"

"I was just so busy catching up with everybody…" said Miles, "I totally forgot about them…"

"That static shock that David got. That was you?" asked Caitlin. Miles nodded and Rich laughed.

"Fantastic! This is absolutely fantastic! Do you think that'll help us get out of here?"

Miles shrugged, "To tell the truth, I can't really _control_ this. It just happens."

"Only when you are angry or in need of self defense." Stated Laura, "Remember the documents? Theoretically, if you concentrate about being angry at something you can harness that electricity thing of yours."

Miles pursed his lips, "I don't know…if I stuff up I might blow the room to bits."

"Just give it a go. Target the machine."

Miles stared at the machine, and forced all his anger to surface. He was angry at Iderdex for everything they'd done, he was angry at his parents for not listening to him about Nimrod…he was angry at Savannah when she drove him nuts, he was angry at all the people who tried to kill the babies…

Miles was on a roll. Anything he could remember, every time he ever felt angry was popping into his head. He felt the air around him fill with static.

_I can do this!_

Suddenly, with that tiny lapse in concentration, Miles felt the static drain from his body.

_No! No! No!_

His anger disappeared. His body lost that static feeling, and instead it was replaced with helplessness.

"Sorry guys…" he said, dropping his head, "It didn't work."

It was silent for a minute, and then Caitlin blew a bit of hair off her face,

"Hey, that's okay. We can always try again."

Miles felt so guilty. As far as he could see, that was their last hope. Even if Phil managed to call for backup, they couldn't get out of the building.

And then, something fantastic happened.

* * *

Phil fumbled with the keys, "You sure this is the right room?"

Lee nodded, "I've been here for so long; I know everything abut this place. So believe me, this is the right room."

Phil put the key in the lock. Just as before, it opened with perfect ease and silence. He pushed it open and was surprised to find Miles, Caitlin, Rich and Laura suspended in a giant, black, metal harness.

The four people looked up,

"Phil?!" they asked in unison.

Phil smiled and waved, "Hi guys! Need some help up there?"

"Thank god you're here!" said Laura, "Can you get us down?"

"I can" said Lee as walked in behind Phil.

Laura frowned, "Lee?"

Rich glared at him, "You betrayed us, you son of a bitch!"

Lee shook his head, "I swear it wasn't like that. They found out what I was going to do. I would have warned you if I could…"

"It's true." Said Phil, "When I found him he was anchored to the bed with wires."

"And that is going to happen to you to, if we don't get you out of here."

Lee walked over to the machine and began pulling levers and switches. Everyone let out a little squeal as the bottom braces were released from around their ankles.

"Brace yourselves" said Lee as he flicked another switch.

The braces on their wrists were released, and each person crashed to the floor with an almighty thump.

"Alright!" said Lee, urgency in his voice, "Let's go!"

He ran out the door. Miles was the first to recover and he ran up behind Lee, "Where are we going?"

"To the only area of the building that isn't under surveillance." Replied Lee.

"We are going to the basement."

* * *

Ooh...basement. Wonder what's down there?

Thank you to ILGH and Pessimistic Romanticist for being my only reveiwers. Everyone else has probably long abandoned this story (why doesn't anyone use story alert????)

And, of course, thank you peppaoceangal and my lovely beta SkyHighFan. You guys rock!


	18. Hiding

Hello once again! Where is everybody anyway? Only one reveiw (thanks a lot ILGH!) Where did you all go???

Only a few more chapters to go...

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Sadly, Surface does not belong to me. Nor does The Prestige, Van Helsing, Artemis Fowl or Doctor Who. Oh well...

* * *

Hiding.

The group ran out of the elevator, and were greeted with a small corridor with one open room at the end. They were about to run through it when Lee stopped them.

"Wait" he said, "We have to get around the camera first."

"I though you said there was no surveillance down here?" commented Caitlin. Lee ignored her and carefully walked to the room. The others followed.

"Stick to the wall" said Lee, "And don't look up."

Lee slid along the wall, and hesitantly the others followed. Even Nimrod stuck to the wall like glue. About halfway along, Lee stopped.

"Here we are." He said. He pressed something on the wall, and a door opened beside him. Carefully he slid in the side, and the others followed. Quickly, Lee shut the door and flicked a light switch.

They were in a concrete room with a couple of chairs and a whiteboard on the far wall. On the left wall was a cabinet full of various machine guns and tools, and the right wall was covered with monitors. In the corner were several cardboard boxes.

"Welcome to my bunker!" said Lee, gesturing around the room.

Phil looked at the guns on the wall, "Wow."

"How did you hide this place?" asked Miles.

"Being the head of security isn't an easy job." Lee said, "You have to be smart. I built this room secretly, and made sure that no-one could see it. I also made sure there was an easy way to get to it without anyone noticing. It was just in case I had to hide out one day…and it seems I made a wise decision."

Lee turned his attention to Phil, Miles and Caitlin, "Now, who the hell are you kids?"  
Miles, a tad insulted about being called a kid, pointed to each of them, "I'm Miles, this is Caitlin, and that is Phil. This little lizard here is my pet Nimrod."

Nim looked up at Lee and squawked. Lee frowned, "Pet?"

Miles nodded, "I found him as an egg. We've been friends ever since."

Lee raised one eyebrow, "Hmm. Interesting."

"Do you think they can hear us out there?" interrupted Rich nervously.

"The door and walls are soundproof. You could play a stereo at full volume and no-one would hear a peep."

Lee sat down and put his head in his hands, "Okay. How are we going to get out of here?"

"We can't!" said Caitlin, "We've got those chips in our heads! And the injections…"

"Do you feel anything different about you?" said Lee, looking up.

"No…but…"

"Don't you get it?" Lee said, his mood changing to frustration, "There were no injections, no brain chips. It was all a bluff to stop you escaping!"

"How…"

"They only brought you in ten minutes after they knocked you unconscious." Explained Lee, "The surgery required to wire the chips takes at least half an hour, and they wouldn't have put you in a harness with the injections. They would have wired you up within an inch of your life. But that doesn't mean they won't do it."

"Well then! Let's escape!" said Laura.

Lee bit his lip, "Uh…there is a slight problem there. For me anyway…"

"What?" asked Rich, exasperated.

"Well…" said Lee, "You all may not have the injections or the chip, but _I do_. I can't get out."

There was a moment of awkward silence, and then Lee went over to one of the cardboard boxes and opened it, revealing several water bottles and tins of food. Taking out a bottle of water he opened it and drank.

"Right." He sad when he was finished, "No use moping about here. Just because I can't get out doesn't mean I can't get you guys out."

He went over to the whiteboard and picked up a marker,

"Now." He began, drawing a box and an arrow, "If we can get to the lift and go up, we could surpass the guards and…"

"Hold on a minute," said Miles, "We can't just go!"

"And why not?" asked Rich.

"This might be our only chance to destroy this place!" said Miles, "We only got through the security because it was shut off. How hard will it be to get in when it's turned on? And you heard what they said; they've already begun new tests! If we back out now, a new creature will come along and this will all happen again, and we might not be able to stop it this time! We have to destroy this place now!"

Nimrod chirped in agreement. Phil nodded, "He's right. We should destroy this place when we have the chance. This might be our only shot at it."

Laura and Rich looked at each other. Laura sighed, and Rich nodded his head.

"Alright." Said Lee, "New plan…"

"But this place is huge!" protested Caitlin, "How can we attack all of it at once without getting caught?"

Lee thought for a moment then grinned, "The generator! Of course!"

Miles frowned "The what?"

"The generator. It's what keeps the air conditioners running, and it's our main source of power. We blow that thing and the security blows, the electricity blows and the entire place heats up like an oven, sabotaging whatever D.N.A is left in the cylinders and sending us home!"

His grin disappeared to be replaced by a grim frown, "Although, to get to the generator, we have to get through five major security rooms with motion sensors, infrared lasers, you name it. Then we have to get back _out _of the main generator room before it explodes. _Then_ we have to get out of the building before they have a chance to lock us in while the place collapses around us."

"And it doesn't help that you won't be able to get past the main entrance." Pointed out Phil.

Lee glared at him, "Thanks for reminding me."

Laura sighed, "This is obviously going to take a while if we don't sort ourselves out. Is there any way we can turn of the security?"

Lee shook his head, "There is, but it will take some serious fighting to get to. And if we turn it off, they have a back-up system. And we wouldn't be able to turn that off because by the time it comes on they will have found out what we did and have locked us up. In essence, we have a window of about ten minutes."

Rich bit his lip, "That's really cutting it close. Is there any other way to shut it off?"

Lee shook his head. Caitlin sighed,

"Well, it seems like the only thing we can do about it for the moment. So let's run with it. What do we have to do to shut it off?"

Lee wiped off his previous drawing and drew two boxes on top of one another.

"This is us" he said, pointing to the bottom box, "And this is the security room. As you can see, it's practically above our heads. If we could find something to drill up with, we could get into the room easily. But the guards in there would probably figure out what was going on at the first thump, so we need a couple of you to get up and take out the guards."

"Nim and I can do that!" said Phil. Nimrod jumped up onto his shoulder and screeched.

"Then we need three people down here to drill through the bottom and turn off the security. I can turn it off, and you two," Lee gestured to Laura and Rich, "Can help me."

Laura and Rich nodded. Lee continued.

"Lastly, we need you," he gestured to Miles and Caitlin, "To post yourselves outside the generator so that as soon as the security goes off you can sprint in and destroy it."

Caitlin and Miles looked at each other and nodded. Lee put the marker back,

"Right, now that we've…"

Suddenly, Lee stopped. He clutched his chest, gasped and crumpled to the floor. His breathing came in gasps as his body jerked around, and then came to a standstill.

The others looked at him, shock and concern over their faces, and then they reached down to help him up.

"What happened?" asked Miles.

"Are you okay?" asked Laura.

Lee's eyes were screwed shut, but when he opened them Miles noticed the pupils had become slightly slitted.

"It's starting." Lee groaned, still clutching his chest. Miles and Laura exchanged glances, and then heaved Lee to his feet. Lee shakily stood up,

"We'd better hurry." He said, "You need my help to get out, and I don't think I've got much time…"

The others nodded, and Lee opened the cabinet and pulled out a giant steel hammer.

"Right. Let's get to work. You four need to go up in the elevator." He pointed to Phil, Miles, Caitlin and Nimrod, "The generator is three floors up. Phil, stop off one floor up and wait before you get off the elevator. There should be a corridor going left. The second door on the right is the security room, and it should have two guards outside and three inside. Take this in case." He threw Phil a machine gun. Phil caught it and gulped, "Right. Left corridor, second on the right. Got it."

"Miles and Caitlin, you will go out into open space, so you need to sprint behind a cylinder on your left and hide behind that until you see a green light on the door go out. Hopefully no-one will see you because hardly anyone goes down there. Once you get into the first room, you'll pass an eye scanner. The second room has a sound sensor, the third room has a fingerprint scanner, the fourth room has infrared lasers and the fifth room has a motion sensor. All the rooms have surveillance cameras. If the security comes back on before you get through all of them, back out immediately…Miles?"

Miles had moved to the pile of boxes and was currently grabbing something out of one of the boxes and hastily stuffing it under his shirt. He turned to the others and smiled,

"Yeah?"

Lee frowned at him, and then cocked his head, "Right. Let's move out! We've got some work to do!"

* * *

Cool! Next chapter we see exactly what happens when they carry their plan out...trouble is waiting just around the corner!

Thanks to ILGH, and thanks to SkyHighFan and peppaoceangal (both of which have NOT reveiwed...peppaoceangal in particular...hint hint.)


	19. Complications

Welcome to chapter 19. We are now nearing the climax of the story, and we have at least three chapters left. Thank you all for your support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface.

* * *

Complications.

After carefully navigating the wall, Phil and Nimrod jumped into the elevator with Caitlin and Miles following, Miles still holding whatever he had grabbed under his shirt. Phil pressed a button and the elevator disappeared. Laura and Rich grabbed a chair and Lee told them where to place it.

"Here…in the middle here…" he pointed. Once they had placed the chair down, he stood on it and lifted the hammer up. Suddenly, he gasped again and almost toppled off the chair.

"Woah, slow down big guy!" said Rich as he stood behind him in case he fell, "I don't think it would be wise to attempt this in your state."

Lee blinked for a second, then gulped and nodded. Rich and Laura helped him down and Rich took the hammer from him. He lined it up with the part of roof he wanted to hit, and then gave it a mighty _wack_! Millions of dusk particles floated down from the ceiling, and after a bit of coughing Rich could see a dent had appeared in the roof.

"Well, that's a start." He said. He raised it to try again.

_Whack!

* * *

_

Phil and Nimrod got off the elevator first.

"Good luck guys!" he whispered, waving, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Miles rolled his eyes and pressed another button, shutting the elevator. Phil turned around and Nimrod began racing down the corridor.

"Nim!" Phil whispered firmly, "_Nim!_ Come back here you little…"

Phil heard a couple of zapping noises. He rounded the left corridor and found Nim staring at the second door on the right, surrounded by two knocked out guards. Nimrod looked at him and cooed. Phil scratched his head,

"You're a smart little lizard…"

They positioned themselves outside the door and Phil pulled out the machine gun and the set of keys. Carefully opening the door, he nodded to Nimrod,

"Ready little guy?"

Nimrod squawked. Phil braced himself, and then pushed the door in. Once he'd lifted himself off the floor, he was greeted with four stunned security guards.

"Hey guys!" Phil said, lifting the machine gun, "Mind if we borrow your equipment?"

* * *

Miles and Caitlin felt nervous as hell as they went up in the elevator. Eventually, after what seemed like ages, the elevator stopped. Miles and Caitlin gripped each others hands, and when the door opened they ran.

Sure enough, there was a cylinder on their left, and they ran behind it as fast as their legs could take them. They got behind it, looked around and then sat down, relived that the room was empty.

"You scared?" asked Caitlin, still gripping his hand.

"Meh. I've done worse."

Caitlin grinned, "It'll be better when this is over."

Miles shrugged, "I don't know. What we've been doing is fine, but a battle like this just can't be won. There is always going to be some crazy child prodigy out there who wants to rule the world, and there is always going to be some stupid firm to fund them, and what we are doing here is just going to happen again, and again, until finally it works and the human race dies."

Caitlin stared at him, "Is that why you've been so…unhappy lately?"

Miles nodded, "You could say that."

Caitlin smiled, "Well, I'll tell you something. What we are doing here, now, is saving the world. Sure, it may need saving again, the world always needs saving, but at least we will all know better. Everyone learns from their mistakes."

Miles grinned, "Thanks Caitlin. It's been fun."

Caitlin kissed him, "My pleasure."

Miles kissed her back. Then they hugged close together, both thinking that this may be the last time they ever would.

* * *

"Phil made to the security room!" announced Laura, looking at the monitors, "He's just taken out two of the guards! Miles and Caitlin are at the generator!"

Lee nodded weakly from his spot on the floor, "Everything is going according to plan…"

Suddenly, Lee jerked on the floor and cried out in pain. Laura quickly ran over to him and leaned over,

"Davis…Davis…are you okay?"

Lee's eyes snapped open and Laura was shocked to see they had now become completely slitted.

"Not much time…" said Lee, "Must get to the lab or the fever will spread…"

Lee was sweating and his breath was coming in short gasps. Laura felt his forehead and was shocked at how hot it felt.

"Rich!" she shouted as Rich banged on the ceiling once more, causing dust to rain down, "Rich! I have to go to the lab and find Lee's injections! The fever is killing him!"  
Rich banged on the roof once more, "What?! That place is crawling with security guards."

Laura opened the cabinet and took out a gun, "I know!"

"_Laura! _Don't you dare…"

Lee lifted his head, "Fourth floor…Testing bay 505…left…blue tube…"

Laura nodded, "Don't worry, I'll get it. You'll be fine."

Laura sprinted out of the door, not caring if the security camera saw her. What with all the commotion they'd had to have noticed _something_ was up. She waiting for the elevator to come down, then jumped in and pressed the button and started her ascent.

* * *

A security guard named Jarrod was patrolling the corridors of level four. Patrol was probably the most boring job he could get, but he couldn't complain after nabbing that Doctor…although it hadn't been much of a fight. She had been hot too…he briefly considered whether she was married

Suddenly, his attention was drawn away by the body lying in the middle of the corridor. Jarrod quickly ran over to it and was shocked to find it was his friend Damien.

"D man…hey, hey, D man…wake up!" he said, shaking his friend. He checked for a pulse and let out a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't dead.

He reached for the radio on his shoulder and pressed the button on its side,

"Security! Secuirty, we have a three one five, man down! I repeat, man down! I need backup on floor four and paramedics at the ready!"

There was no response. Jarrod tried again,

"Security! I need backup on floor four! Can you hear me?"

There was still no response. Frustrated, Jarrod stood up and headed to the elevator to go down to the main security headquarters. He pressed the elevator button and was surprised when the door opened to reveal Dr. Daughtery.

"Hey…" he said, frowning, "Didn't we just…?"

Laura lifted the gun, "Where is Testing Bay 505?"

Jarrod's eyes widened and he put his hands up. Laura moved closer,

"Where is Testing Bay 505?"

Jarrod slowly turned around and made to run away, but Laura jabbed the gun into his back,

"Tell me where it is!"

"Go that way!" Jarrod pointed, "Go up the stairs, turn right, and it should be on your left!"

"Thank you!" said Laura. Then she promptly punched Jarrod in the back of the head, knocking him out.

"Never get in the way of an angry woman." She said, and then she jumped over him and sprinted down the corridor.

* * *

It didn't take long for Phil and Nimrod to take out the guards. Granted, Nimrod did most of the work, and thankfully Phil didn't have to use the gun…

Phil explored the room while he waited for Rich. There were about six different machines lining the walls, each bleeping and flashing their lights, and there was a computer monitor to one side. Phil went over and wriggled the mouse, and a popup screen came up asking for a password.

Suddenly, Phil felt the floor underneath his feet shake. He stood by the door and waited. A couple of minutes later, a section of the floor caved in and Phil looked down it and saw Rich standing on a chair with a hammer in his hand.

"Hello there!" said Rich, "Think you could give me some help? I need to get Lee up!"

Phil looked down and saw Davis Lee lying on the floor, breathing heavily, "Okay. Lift him up and I'll bring him in."

Rich got off the chair and picked Lee off the floor, with a bit of trouble considering he was so heavy. Lee flopped around like a rag doll as Rich carefully got on the chair and tried to lift him up through the hole. Phil grabbed his arms and began pulling, and eventually Lee was in. Rich climbed up and ran over to one of the machines.

"Lee!" he said, looking at several switches, "Which one is it?"

"Not…switch." Gasped Lee, "Computer!"

Rich ran over to a computer monitor. He was greeted with the same popup.

"What's the password?" he asked.

Lee screwed up his eyes and jerked. Rich suddenly remembered the cylinder.

"I hope this works…" he said, and he typed in _lamb_.

The computer screen went blank. Rich frowned and banged the side of it.

"Come on! So much for the best of technology…"

Lee opened his eyes and tried to stand up, "Don't do that! I need to access the mainframe…"

Phil and Rich helped Lee over to the computer. Lee quickly got to work, ignoring the illness as it spread through his system. Rich fervently hoped Laura would hurry. Suddenly, there was a bleep from the computer and Lee clapped his hands.

"Security is off!" he said, smiling, "We did it…"

Then he collapsed.

* * *

Miles saw the green light on the generator turn off, and he quickly got up.

"Lights off." He said, "Let's move!"

He took a quick look around, and then sprinted across the room to the generator. Quickly opening the door, he gestured to Caitlin to follow and then jumped inside. Caitlin hesitated.

"Come on Caitlin!" Miles said, "Just run!"

Caitlin took a deep breath, and ran. At the exact same moment, the elevator door opened and two men stepped out.

"Hey!" one of them shouted, "What are you doing here!?"

Caitlin paused and turned around. Her eyes grew wide and she turned to run through the generator room but the men got to her first. Miles opened the door a crack and watched the unfolding scene in shock.

"Let me go!" she shouted as they grabbed her arms, "Let me go!"

"We'll take her up to David" the man who had spoken said, "He'll find a use for her, I'm sure."

The other man nodded, and they began to drag her out Caitlin glanced at the door and nodded at Miles.

_Good luck._ She mouthed, _I love you._

They got into the elevator and the doors shut. Miles took one last look at the shut elevator, then shut the door and turned to the first room.

_It's up to me now._ He thought. _Again.

* * *

_

Laura opened the door to Testing Bay 505 and instantly began scouring the place for the injections,

"Okay…okay...where would they be?"

She moved over to the bed and searched around there, but she couldn't find anything. She stopped and took a deep breath.

_Okay. The injections contain liquid, liquid is usually frozen._

She looked around, and saw a small cupboard behind the door that she hadn't noticed before. Rushing over to it, she opened it and felt how cold it was.

_Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!_

She looked into the fridge and saw a couple of boxes full of vials. Grabbing both of them, she shut the fridge and ran helter skelter back to the elevator.

* * *

Caitlin wriggled in her captors hands as they dragged her out of the elevator,

"Wait until the police hear about this!" she screamed, "Let me go you son of a bitch!"

She kicked one of the men in the shin, but he held her firm, "Yeah, right, police. Like you are going to be able to reach anyone down here!"

Suddenly, a voice blared out of a loudspeaker on the wall,

"Attention all Level Six personnel. Could all Level Six personnel please report to the main office. Repeat, all Level Six personnel please report to the main office."

The men looked at each other.

"Let's just lock her in a room." Suggested one of them, "David can take care of her later."

The men dragged Caitlin to a room and opened the door. They quickly shoved her in and shut the door, locking her in. Caitlin banged on the door,

"Hey! Hey! You can't just leave me in here!"

The men's silhouettes began walking away.

"Hey! No! _You can't just leave me here!_"

The men disappeared. Caitlin gave up and sank to the floor.

_Miles,_ she thought, _you'd better make it.

* * *

_

Miles took a look at the first room.

It was just a normal empty room, with a concrete floor and concrete walls. On the other side was a door with a metal object on it. Casually, Miles walked over to the door and opened it with one quick movement of the wrist.

_Easy._

The next room had a little white box in the left corner of the roof. Miles ignored it and continued through the door. He glanced at his watch before opening the door.

_Five minutes. I'm doing great._

The next room had another little box next to the door handle. On top of the little box was a cube of what looked like jelly, and when Miles curiously poked at it his fingerprint remained indented in the gel. _The fingerprint scanner_. He continued.

He got into the next room and saw five little boxes placed randomly on each side of the room.

_These must be the infrared lasers._

Even though the security was shut off, he felt cautious. Slowly, he walked towards the first box.

He passed. Nothing happened. Nothing happened on the second box, nor the third and the fourth.

_Phew. That was close…_

Then he crossed the fifth box, and at the same time he heard a little _click.

* * *

_

Rich stared at the computer in horror.

"No!" he shouted, "No, no, no!"

"Security on." The computer replied in an electronic voice, "Power full. Surveillance functioning…"

"You said we had ten minutes!" he shouted at Lee, who was quivering on the floor, "I don't think that was ten minutes Lee! _Why wasn't it ten minutes?_"

Lee didn't respond. Rich shook him violently,

"You lied to us, again! I could kill you right now…"

Suddenly, Laura burst through the door,

"Rich!" she said, "I have the injections!"

She searched through the boxes until she found the blue vials, then she ran over to Lee and opened them, forcing the liquid down his throat. It was then an alarm began to go off.

"Shit" said Phil, looking at one of the monitors, "Miles tripped one of the lasers, and he's still got one room to go!"

Everyone (except Lee, who was still shaking on the floor) gathered around the screen and watched as Miles opened the door to the last room. Before he entered, he looked up, and then took something out from under his shirt.

"What the hell is he doing?" asked Laura.

"I have no idea." Replied Phil, "What is that?"

Miles began unfolding the object, and Rich frowned.

"Is that a…blanket?"

Phil nodded, "I do believe it is."

"What the hell has a blanket got to do with….?" He trailed off as Miles raised it above his head, "What on earth is he _doing_?"

Miles walked into the room, still holding the sheet in front of him. Rich shook his head, "A motion sensor can't be fooled by a bloody blanket…"

Miles continued to walk, facing what they assumed was the motion sensor, and edged his way to the last door. Finally, he got to it, and carefully opened it and went through. There was a moment of stunned silence, and then Phil laughed.

"Miles and I saw that on TV." He explained, "We though it was pretty cool at the time."

Laura shook her head and smiled, "Teenagers. Think they know everything."

Suddenly, there was a cry from outside, and the door burst open.

* * *

Miles quickly shut the door behind him and lent against the wall for a moment, breathing out a sigh of relief. Then he laughed, perhaps a tad crazily.

_It worked. I cannot believe it worked. It really worked!_

He stood there for a minute contemplating his success, but then he actually took in his surroundings.

He was in a large room with big machines and wires poking out of each of them. There was a constant roaring and beeping that seemed to be coming from all angles. In the middle of the room, though, was something that really caught Miles' attention. It looked almost like a wedding cake, layer upon layer of solid metal machinery covered in buttons. Directly in front of him was a transparent box covering a panel of switches, which Miles assumed was the main control panel.

Miles heard the alarm still blaring in the background. He had to do this quickly; otherwise he'd never get another chance. It was now or never…

He walked up to the panel and noticed there was a small screen at the bottom of the box with a number pad next to it. He stared at the pad for a moment, then swore under his breath. _More codes._

The screen went for almost the entire length of the panel, there could have been and endless string of combinations. Miles sighed and reached for the pad.

"Just when you thought it was over, always one more puzzle to solve."

Miles jumped out of his skin as the voice reverberated around the room. He whirled around and came face to face with a man.

The man was dressed in a simple lab coat, but it was worn down and patchy and hung limply from his scrawny limbs like an old curtain. His face was young, but his eyes were old and Miles could see faint lines around his face like wrinkles, except not meant for the face they were on. His skin was pale, like he hadn't seen a drop of sunlight in his life. He looked…weird. Young, yet much older than he looked.

It scared him.

"You need another code." Said the man again, his voice sounding like the rest of him, old and young at the same time.

Miles gulped, "Who are you?"

The man smiled, his yellowed teeth and bad breath almost causing Miles to gag, "Surprised you hadn't figured it out already. The name's Alger Kessler."

Miles' eyes grew wide and he shook his head.

"No." he said weakly, "You're dead. You drowned! Rich and Laura…"

"Rich and Laura had the right idea to begin with." Said Kessler, "Sometimes, you can have more than one person in the picture."

Miles frowned, "Huh?"

Kessler rolled his eyes, "Lee wasn't the only person cloned. There were several of us actually."

"So…you're a clone?"

"No. I'm the original." He turned around with his arms outstretched.

Miles shook his head again, "What are you doing here?"

Kessler laughed, "To help you, of course."

Miles blinked. This was all becoming _very_ confusing.

"Why would you want to help me? You're with them aren't you?"

Kessler laughed again, but this time there was a cold edge to it, "They left the other me to drown. Thought I was crazy. As soon as I realised what we were doing, I had to try and stop it, but they just wouldn't listen. So I hid, and one day I hoped I would help someone destroy this place. Someone like _you_."

Miles was frozen to the spot.

"How do you know me?"

Kessler grinned, but not a nice grin. It looked more like a crazy, maniac grin. He tapped his head.

"Telepathy isn't just for you special people. I have the chromosomes too. I was watching the creatures, and I knew what you were doing. I knew you were human, and I knew that you'd come here. I know because I lead you here."

"What do you mean, you _lead me_? _What the hell is going on?!_"

Kessler just continued grinning. By now, Miles was thoroughly freaked out, and the fear was beginning to kick in. He could feel his body fill with static, and apparently Kessler could feel it too.

"Don't bother" he spat at him, "You can't hurt me."

He turned to him so that his whole body faced him and began walking closer.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" he asked, "I wasn't strong enough to tell you straight out, and out of your group I wasn't always sure who I was in. So I nudged at your minds, telling you what to do so that you could figure it out. So that you could destroy the generator and this place along with it. I even risked getting into David's head, boy I enjoyed mucking about with that bastard's mind. Have you figured it out yet?"

Miles bit his lip. This guy was really beginning to scare him. He could feel him staring, staring into his mind, into his soul.

"There are only four digits in the code. The screen is just to put people off." Said the man suddenly, "Sound familiar?"

Miles stood there for a second, and then it all clicked. He remembered things, and some other things just appeared in his mind as Kessler sent them to his brain.

"_The number four. Four dials, four lines, cylinder 4"_

_It's number four._

"_See that tent over there? With the number four on it? We'll meet back there later"_

_Phil swore and picked a random number, number four, on the elevator wall._

_Once he'd lifted himself off the floor, he was greeted with four stunned security guards._

Four. Four, four, four. It was all four.

"A bit of trivia for you. Four is the only digit with the same amount of letters as its name." said Kessler. "Now there is something to think about."

Kessler watched and waited. Slowly, Miles turned back towards the panel, and he reached out to press the button.

_4…4…4…4…_

There was a click as the panel popped open. Inside, there was a mass of wires, and at the very heart a computer chip sat, blinking and leaving imprint's in Miles's vision.

"Use your power." Guided Kessler, "You know you can. Do it quickly."

Miles blocked out the world around him and concentrated every spark of anger in his being. He felt electricity begin to crackle at his fingers. He imagined Greg talking to him, and then it was David, his parents, Savannah and then it seemed to fill his mind and merge to become one voice he couldn't quite place.

_Freak. Freak. Freak!_

Crackle.

_You'll never get anywhere._

Spark.

_Not even that smart._

Another spark.

_You. Are. Worthless._

The world exploded in front of Miles' eyes. He felt every ounce of electricity leave his body and sink into the generator.There were sparks, something popped, and then all was quiet. The air-conditioners stopped, leaving an eerie silence in its place. Everything seemed to stop.

And then the entire building was plunged into darkness.

* * *

They did it! Yay! Next chapter, the group try to make their way out...but someone gets left behind.

Thanks to ILGH and cenzo, and SkyHighFan for putting up with my constant badgering.

Note: For all of you wondering about the blanket, that particular stunt was tested on a show called Mythbusters. The myth was tht you could fool a motion sensor by holding a blanket in front of you and walking slowly, always facing the sensor. The blanket was supposed to fool the sensor because all it would get back would be a flat surface. And it worked! I just decided to add that for fun...


	20. Fire

Hello again!

I bet you're thinking, oh, it's an update from _her_. Supposed I deserve that. Sorry I left ya'll hanging...I got caught up in the hols (as you can tell by all my DW oneshots) and I got stuck a bit writing this (damn plot bunny) but it's here now, and it's a killer...

In this chapter, we find a way out of Iderdex. But someone gets left behind...

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed (sorry, I don't have enough time to mention names) and I'd like to thank my amazing beta SkyHighFan for sticking with it, even though I'm a pain ;)

Now, as per usual and without futher ado, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I think by now you've read enough of these to get the gist of it...

* * *

Laura, Rich and Phil were frozen to the spot as six guards stormed into the room, and they were stunned as David followed them, his shiny leather shoes clicking on the floor and his grin a perfect mixture of triumph and contempt.

"Well, well." Said David as he approached the group, "Now the trip ends."

His gaze lingered to Lee, who was lying still on the floor, yellow eyes and slitted pupils eyeing him with loathing.

"Davis Lee." David smirked as he looked down, "I never thought you would be the trouble. You and Kessler…you were such good friends. And you yourself never let us down. When we asked for your DNA to test our cloning abilities, you readily agreed. And now, here you are, helpless and changed without a way out. Back in the old days, you wouldn't have done any of this."

He kneeled down and whispered close to his ear, "I can offer you a way out of this. If you co-operate, no-one gets hurt. We'll let your friends go."

Lee glared at him. He opened his mouth and said two words, and even though is voice was low and rasping you could still hear them clearly.

"Fuck. You."

David chuckled and stood up again, "You were always the fighter. Never thought you'd be fighting for the other side though."

Lee glanced at the monitors. He saw Miles in the generator room and noticed a faint shimmer around his hands. He grinned.

"I'm not Davis Lee." He said, eyes gleaming.

David frowned, "Who are you then?"

"I'm me." Lee replied, "Now the trip ends."

Then the power went out.

* * *

The six guards that had stormed into the security room were utterly surprised when the power went out. Even more surprised when four of them were simultaneously knocked out and they heard a sharp click as the door behind them shut, locking them in.

Laura cursed as she ran out of the door and shut it quickly, and then ducked as she heard guns being fired. Bullets shattered the window, and as soon as they stopped she slunk away in what she hoped was the right direction. Behind her, she could hear David shouting but she ignored it and continued her struggle to get away. She suddenly crashed into someone's leg, and she heard them stumble and curse.

"Who's that?" she asked, not noticing she was whispering.

"Rich." Rich whispered back, "I can't see a bloody thing."

There was a squawk ahead, and Laura heard another pair of footsteps.

"Nimrod knows where to go!" shouted Phil, his loud voice spreading through the corridor, "This way!"

"Where's Lee?"

"Here I am!" shouted Lee behind them, "I'm fine! Just go!"  
The group scrambled through the corridor and then she heard Phil shout, "Wait! The elevators aren't working! Which way to the stairs?"  
"Keep going!" shouted Lee, "Feel the wall until you get to a left turn!"

The group made their way along until Phil announced he'd found the turn.

"Follow the right wall! The next gap should be the stairs!"

The others obediently followed, and they eventually found the stairs and stumbled down them. There was a yelp ahead as someone missed a step and Laura heard a door open behind them.

"Go!" she shouted, "Go, go, go, go, go!"

They continued their frantic run down the stairs until they got to solid ground. Suddenly Laura shouted.

"Where's Lee gone now?"

A beam of light appeared around the corner and shined in her eyes, "Its okay! I'm here and I've got a torch!"

Laura got a fleeting glimpse of his yellow eyes reflecting the light. She shivered.

"We have to find Miles!" shouted Phil.

"He knows where to go!" shouted Rich over the top of him, "Head for the exit!"

* * *

Miles blinked as the darkness enveloped him, and wasn't surprised when he found he could see perfectly.

"Get out of here now." Said Kessler beside him, "Go and help your friends."

"What about you?" Miles asked. Kessler shook his head.

"I've lived too long." He said, "Now go. Leave this place."

Miles nodded, "Thank you."

Kessler nodded back, and Miles turned and sprinted out the door.

He had to get to the entrance and hope that Caitlin was there.

* * *

Caitlin sat in the room, waiting for the lights to go out. When they finally did, she let out a sigh of relief.

_Thank god. He did it._

Her relief was short lived, as she remembered that this place was going to heat up like an oven.

_Okay. Okay. Okay. Calm down. Miles wouldn't leave without you. He'll be looking for you. He's got to be looking for you._

She jumped up and started to bang on the door.

"Miles!" she shouted, "Miles! I'm here! _Miles!_"

Caitlin continued to shout, her cries echoing down the empty corridors with no-one to hear them.

* * *

Rich wiped his brow as they ran, almost crashing into several stunned employees as they bolted to the entrance. The panic obviously hadn't begun to set in yet, but he had no doubt it would soon.

The place was already beginning to get warm. He could feel himself sweating under his warm clothes, and fervently wished he had worn something cooler.

Suddenly, Nimrod screeched. Lee shone the torch on him as he stopped, and then began to double back.

"What the hell is he doing?" shouted Rich, "The exit is _that way_!"

"He's found Miles." Said Lee, "He's on his way up. Keep going."

Reluctantly, the others followed the command, not even questioning Lee. They continued to run down stairs and up corridors, Lee barking instructions every so often. His voice seemed to get even worse, the rasps becoming a low growl. Laura was just glad she couldn't see his face anymore. Miles had been scary enough. She didn't think she could go through that again.

Soon enough, they got to the entrance. The door was slightly ajar; some people were already trying to escape. The heat was now obvious in the air; Laura was beginning to feel the sweat creeping out from under her jumper. She thought about the tanks of liquid nitrogen.

She wished Miles and Caitlin would hurry.

Phil pulled the door wide open, "Lee and I will wait for Miles, you guys find a way to get us back up and out of here!"

Laura and Rich filed out the door along with the other employees. Phil turned around. Still no sign of Miles or Caitlin. And then he heard the pattering of two sets of feet on the hard floor and grinned in the darkness.

"Nim! Miles! That you?"

"Phil!" answered Miles, relief sweeping through him, "Thank god! I thought I was never going to find you! Is Caitlin there?"

Lee frowned in the darkness, "Caitlin isn't here. We thought she was with you…"

A look of horror crossed their faces, and Miles didn't hesitate before whirling around and running in the opposite direction.

"I have to find her!" he shouted as he ran into the corridors and out of sight. Nimrod began to follow him, and then he hesitated and turned for the exit.

"Hey!" Phil shouted, "Come back here Nim!"

He ran out and chased after him. Lee stood there for a moment, and then he returned to the door and waited.

It was really getting hot.

* * *

The corridors passed in blurs of colour as Miles ran, hurtling through the building at lightning speed. The heat didn't bother him; in fact it seemed to help him, fuelling the energy behind every step.

He wished he'd followed Caitlin, found where they'd taken her. Now he'd never find her…

Crash! Around the corner he collided with something and fell to the floor. There were some gasps from other people, and Miles quickly got up and was about to continue running when he noticed who he'd crashed into.

David.

He growled, "Where's Caitlin?"

David frantically looked around to see where the voice was, and Miles gripped his shirt collar and pulled him up.

"Where's Caitlin?" He shouted. David looked in his general direction and smiled wickedly, the gesture lost on everyone but Miles.

"I don't know." He stated simply.

The grin faded as an electric shock rattled his body. Miles returned his smile.

"Next time it'll be lethal." He threatened, "Now, tell me again. Where. Is. Caitlin?"

"I don't know." Repeated David, a little less cocky, "What do you think you are going to prove by shutting this building down, hey? That science is a failure? Because we have back-up files hidden across the globe, we have more scientists willing to decipher the real meaning as to why we are here. We can easily rebuild this in a year's time. The government will be more then happy to give us grants, and we'll just collect the patent money and be off. So, why don't you just give up? Or do you want history to repeat itself?"

Miles paused, and then he answered.

"No." he said coldly, "I won't give up. You created these things so you could, what, create a whole new world of super-scientists so you can crack the meaning of life? Well, maybe we weren't meant to know. When human kind knows everything, there will be no point for science. Science was made to prove things, and when there is nothing more to prove what do we do? And you're taking innocent people along with you, the same innocent people who might just become a president or the next Einstein if you just let them. And besides, your plan stuffed up big time. Now that the whole world knows what you've been doing, they'll give everything they have to stop you. Face it David. It's well and truly over."

David sat there for a moment, staring at Miles, and then he sighed.

"She's in an empty storage room, level six." He said quietly, "But I don't know which room."

In a second Miles was gone, sprinting down the corridor in what he hoped was the right direction leaving David staring after him as his footsteps thudded away into the darkness.

* * *

Laura and Rich tried to navigate through the throng of people running up the monorail lines in the dark, trying to get out as fast as possible. Laura and Rich lagged behind, running off the lines and into the rows of cylinders.

"There has got to be an exit down here!" Laura said, fear apparent in her voice, "We found one before didn't we?"

"Yeah, but we're at the centre of the Earth!" Rich exclaimed, waving his flashlight around. "We are at least two hours away from the surface! There is no quick way out!"

"There has got to be something!" Laura cried out in frustration, running up beside him. "Their genius's for god's sake! They can't just run out of plans!"

Rich was about to answer, but then he saw something behind Laura. He looked over her shoulder and pointed.

"It's Nimrod!" he shouted as a flurry of green raced past them.

"Rich?" came a voice, "That you guys?"

Phil came rushing around a cylinder, breathing heavily.

"Any luck with an escape plan?" he asked, trying to catch his breath. Laura shook her head.

"Where are Miles and Caitlin?" she demanded. Phil also shook his head. "They're still missing." He said hopelessly.

Suddenly, there was a sharp cry. All heads turned to the source, and Rich shone his torch. Nimrod was standing on a lowered section of ground, and as they stared Phil realised what it was.

"A monorail track!" he shouted.

Sure enough, as they moved closer they saw it was a stretch of monorail track leading away from the main line. Rich clapped his hands.

"Let's go!" he said, hurrying off leaving Laura and Phil to race after him. They didn't see Nimrod as he quickly made his way back to the entrance.

* * *

Caitlin was really beginning to panic now. It was getting really hot, and she was starting to find it hard to breathe.

She had to get out, and soon.

He throat was dry as she continued shouting, her voice getting more horse by the minute.

"Miles! Miles! _Miles!_" Still nothing. She slumped against the door, and then jumped forward wincing as its hot surface burnt her skin.

No-one was coming to save her.

Her head was spinning from the heat, black tendrils creeping into his vision as she stumbled away from the door. She tried to stand up, but the dehydration was beginning to get to her and instead she slumped to the floor, slowly losing consciousness.

"Miles." She whispered hoarsely, her last plead for help before she lost consciousness and her mind went blank.

* * *

Miles made his way through the corridors frantically trying to figure out a way to tell where Caitlin was. He tried knocking on the doors and shouting, not caring that the metal frames were beginning to burn his knuckles, but each time he got no answer. And it was getting hotter.

He stopped outside the next door, and then kicked as hard as he could. The door, suddenly under immense pressure, burst open in an almost comical style. Miles glanced in the room, and then moved into the next when he'd established Caitlin wasn't there. The next room also held nothing important.

_Come on, I have to be getting closer…_

Door after door after door he hit, but to no avail. He was about to give up hope, there were only a few doors left and if she wasn't there he didn't think he had any time to go looking again before...

The next door collapsed in on itself, revealing an empty room. Empty, except for the body lying in the middle of the floor, hair spread out around their face and limbs stretched across the floor, limp and unmoving.

"Caitlin!" Miles shouted. He ran to her and grabbed her wrist, breathing a deep sigh of relief when he felt the pulse. She was alive, at least. He carefully hauled her up onto her feet, and then tried to swing her over his shoulder. Eventually he had her settled in an awkward and uncomfortable position on his shoulder. For now, it would have to do. Sprinting out the door, he attempted to make his way back to the entrance, Caitlin bouncing over his shoulder like a rag doll. He fervently hoped that he wasn't too late.

* * *

When Miles got to the door, he expected the others to be waiting for him. Instead he found a crowd of people who were all staring at something in front of the door. He ran up to them to see what the fuss was about, and then gasped when he saw who lay in the centre.

Lee was lying on the floor, groaning in pain. His face looked different, sharper, and when he bared his teeth he revealed a row of gleaming fangs. A spine like shape was protruding out from under his shirt, and there was a small pool of blood beside him.

"What have you done?" he shouted to the surrounding employees. He laid Caitlin carefully on the floor and then moved over to Lee. He groaned again, and Miles flinched as he remembered how he'd felt after crashing into the ferry.

"What happened?" he asked quietly. Lee groaned again, and then Miles noticed a white stick poking out from the base of his spine. He gulped when he realised it was bone.

Nimrod was coming up behind him, and right now he gave a little whimper. A few of the surrounding people gave a squeal and backed off pointing, but Miles ignored them.

"Here." he said, taking his hand, "Come on, get up."

Lee didn't seem to notice. There was a sharp crack, another wince of pain. Miles gulped, and then reached out for his hand.

"Come on Lee." He urged, "get up…"

He grabbed Lee's hand, but instead of taking it Lee whirled around to face him and growled, teeth bared. He lurched forward and tried to bite Miles' hand, but he quickly pulled away. There was a bright light, and Lee jerked backwards. Many people screamed and backed off. In the midst of this, Nimrod stood in front of Miles, teeth bared and eyes gleaming.

"Nim!" Miles shouted, crawling over to Lee, "What the hell did you do?"

Le wasn't moving. Miles quickly reached for his wrist to check for a pulse, but before he could do anything Lee's eyes sat open and he blinked.

"Miles?" he asked in a deep, growling voice, "What happened?"

Suddenly he flinched. He stood up gingerly and reached down his back, slowly feeling the spine and eventually reaching the bone.

"Shit." He murmured, "That can't be good."

"Are you okay?" Miles asked, concerned. Lee nodded, "Yes, I'm okay."

He looked up, and suddenly his eyes widened.

"I'll take that back." He said, obviously spooked, "I'm not okay. I'm past the entrance."

Miles looked up. Sure enough, they'd been throw out of the entrance.

"I'm supposed to be dead." Lee muttered, confused. He glanced over at Nimrod, who was coming through the door with an almost smug look on his face. He grinned.

"That lizard you've got is clever." Lee commented, "He shocked me, and the current shorted out the chip. I'm a free man..." he let this sentance hang in the air for a moment, marvelling at the prospect, but then he frowned. "Hey, where's Caitlin?"

Miles remembered Caitlin, and he jumped up and picked her up off the floor. He carried her over to Lee.

"I found her in one of the storage rooms." He spluttered, "She's dehydrated. We need to get her out."

Lee nodded, "Let's go and find the others. We don't have much time."

* * *

Rich, Laura and Phil hopped onto the track and sprinted down the rails, until they rounded a corner and the track split. Rich raised his torch and grinned.

"I think we found a way out." He said.

They seemed to be in some kind of large garage, and looming ahead of them were eight two-cart monorails, sitting patiently for someone to board.

"Yes!" Phil shouted triumphantly, punching the air, "A bit of luck!"

There was the sound of footsteps behind them. They turned around and saw Miles, Nimrod and Lee running towards them. Between them was Caitlin, hanging between them limply. Everybody's attention was drawn to Lee, but there wasn't a single word passed between them. Each one knew what they were thinking anyway.

"Is she okay?" Phil asked, turning his attention back to Miles and Caitlin. Nimrod squawked.

"Not good." Miles said despairingly, "At least we have a way out now."

"Brilliant!" Laura shouted, observing the monorails, but then her face fell, "Wait, the generator is out. That powered everything. How the hell are we going to get them going?"

"There is a backup power source used for the nitrogen tanks." Lee explained, coming over to one of the carts and reaching underneath it, "It isn't linked to the generator, and was only meant to keep the tanks cool in case of an emergency like this. I can re-route the power to the monorails, but I don't know how long it will take to bypass the security." He pulled something off the bottom of the monorail, revealing a thin computer screen attached to several wires. "I'd say it'll take about fifteen minutes."

"Not if you have me!"

Rich and Laura turned in the direction of the voice and Rich flung his torch around to see David running up to them, sweat pouring down his face and more dark patches staining his expensive suit.

"What are you doing here?" Laura asked accusingly.

David rushed up to Lee and grabbed the computer from his hands, despite the deathly glare he attracted.

"I can bypass the codes in less than five minutes. Get all the people in here, these monorails will be more than enough if we squash together. We can get them on separate rails and if we go fast enough we can get out in no time."

There was a pause.

"Why are you helping us?" Miles asked. David turned to him.

"I don't want to die. Simple as that." He said bluntly, but his eyes were saying differently, "Now go and get those people on board!"

* * *

Pretty soon, the employees were gathered in the garage. Each person was directed to a monorail, each painstaking minute seeming to take forever as people navigated through the dark, and then each monorail was let out on their separate tracks. When the last monorail was filled, Miles, Nimrod, Lee, Laura, Rich, Phil and David clambered into the driver's cabin. Inside there were a few seats and a sort of dashboard with a pedal underneath, all illuminated by a dim light positioned on the roof.  
"Does anybody know how to actually drive a monorail?" Miles asked as he carefully hoisted Caitlin into the cabin.

"I once got to sit in one of these when I was a kid." Rich said, settling into the driver's seat already, "I can vaguely remember how this works."

Laura shook her head, "Sometimes you make me wonder."

Rich began tinkering with some buttons, and then he clapped his hands and pressed his foot down on the pedal underneath his feet.

"Like driving a car!" he said casually as they rode out of the garage. David hopped beside him and pressed some other buttons to change their course.

"Right." He said when he was finished, "Now that we siphoned the backup, we have approximately three minutes before the temperature in there reaches critical. After that, we're living on borrowed time. So if I were you, I'd gun that pedal down."

Rich followed the instructions, pushing down on the pedal as far as it would go. The passengers were lurched forwards and then flung backwards again as the monorail sped down the track. There was a groan, and Caitlin opened her eyes a crack.

"What's going on?" she slurred. Miles instantly focused his attention on her.

"Caitlin!" he said, "It's okay. We're getting out of here."

Caitlin bobbed her head, and then groaned again.

"I'm thirsty." She muttered hoarsely, "Really thirsty…"

"Hold on Caitlin." Miles said, hugging her close, "You have to hold on for a bit."

David was watching them intently, and as soon as Miles noticed him he turned away, biting his lip. Miles ignored him, and then was lurched to the side as the monorail whizzed around the corner and almost de-railed.

"Can this thing hold out?" he asked, worried they were going to crash before they got out.

"This thing is built to withstand all sorts of things." Lee explained, "It should hold up."

"Should?"

Whatever answer Lee was going to give was pulled out of his mouth as the cart lurched again.

"Rich!" Laura screamed, "Rich, I think we are going too fast!"

Rich gritted his teeth and pressed the pedal down harder, "Laura, now is _not _the time to be worried. About. The. Speed limit!"

They were shooting along the rails now, flying up the tunnel. The needle showing the speed of the monorail had gone off the dial, and no-one was particularly sure they wanted to know how fast they were going. There was silence for a minute, then Phil checked his watch.

"Two and a half minutes." He groaned, "How far up are we?"

"Not too long!" David said, looking out the window. "We just passed Sector eight. This is it; we are on our own now."

They travelled forward, the speed seeming to increase even more with each passing second as if the wills of its passengers were pushing it on. Suddenly Laura screamed.

"Look!" she shouted, pointing through the window. Ahead of them was a sharp turn.

"Shit!" Rich shouted, "We're going too fast!"

"Hold on!" Lee shouted, "Brace yourselves!"

There was a sharp click as they went over the turn, and then the harsh grinding of metal against metal as the monorail flew over the floor. They crashed into several tanks, sending their contents flying all over the place. The group huddled together, trying to absorb the worst of the crash and hoping they stayed alive. There was a huge crack as they crashed through the wall, and continued to fly out onto the street.

Somewhere, back in the now deserted building, a red light flashed on one of the cryogenic cylinders. A creaking noise echoed throughout the building as many more succumbed to the heat and the pressure, until finally one of them burst open.

* * *

Everyone felt it. The whole place shook as the first cylinder exploded, setting off a massive chain reaction throughout the whole building. Millions of litres of liquid nitrogen ignited, exploding with enormous power. All the monorails were sent flying, all of the people inside screaming as it spiralled through the air while the building near them exploded in a massive burst of hot air and flames that rose into the sky like a giant beacon. The monorails started to come down, down to the Earth, down onto the ground, each scream forming one massive wave of sound as they impacted with the ground with an almighty crash…

Then the screams stopped, and all that could be heard was the roaring of the flames that was all that remained of Iderdex and the ringing of sirens far off in the distance.


	21. Survival

Chello people! Welcome to chapter 21!

I'm so happy...Surface is coming out in Australia in APRIL!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I've extended this story a chapter. In this one, our heroes finally finish what they started, and they have to face their worst fears yet...

Enjoy...and please review! lol

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface...BUT I WILL IN APRIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* * *

Survival

It was like the ferry crash all over again. Pain was shooting all over Miles' body, he could hardly breathe. He dared to open his eyes a fraction, forcing his eyelids to unglue themselves and lift up so he could see the damage.

The first thing he saw through the open cabin door was the tower of flames rising in the air where Iderdex had previously been. They were actually quite far away from the building, at least a few blocks. Miles tried to remember why, but his mind felt like black sludge and he couldn't quite remember anything. It was dawn, but instead of pink the sky was a dark red. He tried to sit up, wincing as he did so.

_Goddamit. _He thought, _the hospital bill is going to be enormous by the time I'm done…_

Then he glanced around and his eyes widened in horror as he eyed the carnage around him.

Miles could see the remains of the monorail, crumpled and scattered across a beach they'd landed on. Several people were clambering out, groaning and bleeding, while others simply weren't moving at all. Remembering the others, Miles whirled around and to his horror found the other laying in their seats limply with blood coming off various wounds.

_Oh god…_he thought, panicking, _no, this can't be happening! They can't be…_

Suddenly, Laura gave out a cough. Miles sighed in relief as she groaned and forced her eyes open.

"What happened?" she groaned. Rich stirred beside her.

"Ouch…" He muttered, trying to sit up but falling backwards again. "Did we make it?"

"Yeah." Miles wheezed, grinning, "We made it out!"

"Dude…"said Phil beside him, sitting up slowly and reaching up to feel his wet, bloody forehead. "That was totally crazy. Is everyone okay?"

"Seems so…" Laura said, looking around. Her gaze rested on David, "he okay?"

Rich nudged him with his elbow, and he let out a groan.

"Yep." Rich commented. "He's okay."

There was a small squeak, and Nimrod wriggled out from under the gnarled control panel. Already his wounds were beginning to heal, and in no time he'd plonked himself beside Miles, nudging him happily.

"Everyone's accounted for!" Phil said clapping his hand and then wincing as he heard a crack in his wrist, "Although I'm not sure we're all in the best condition, that said."

Suddenly, Nimrod gave an urgent squawk. Miles turned to him,

"What's up?" he asked. Nimrod nodded outside and squawked again, jumping in front of him and growling.

"Nim, what's…?" Miles began, and then he paused. Something was wrong.

"Caitlin!" he shouted, jumping up and ignoring the pain it caused him, "Where's Caitlin?!"

The others jerked up and instantly began looking around in astonishment. Nimrod jumped out of the cabin and began running down the monorail, and Miles followed without hesitation, ignoring the groans and cries of others.

Then he saw the body.

It felt like time had frozen as he ran up to her. Through a tear in her clothes he could see a deep gash across her leg, and her right arm was bent back at a weird angle, a dark purple bruise forming below her elbow. But the worst of it was just above her hip. The wound itself Miles couldn't see, but on her shirt was a large patch of red that covered her chest.

"Oh my god…oh my god…"

Caitlin gasped, "Miles?"

"Caitlin…Caitlin…holy shit…"

"It hurts…why am I hurting...?"

Miles sniffed and a wave of tears forced their way out of his eyes and dropped to the ground, mixing with the pool of blood flowing from Caitlin's open wound.

"I can't see Miles…what…" she coughed. Miles watched, sickened as blood poured out of her mouth, staining her clothes a dark red.

"No…" he said weakly, "No Caitlin…you can't die. Please."

Caitlin was gasping for air again, what breath she had coming in shuddering gasps and coughs bringing more blood forth. Her eyes became cloudy and she shivered uncontrollably. Miles wriggled her hand into his and grasped it tightly.

"Hurt…" Caitlin choked, "hurt…Miles!"

"I'm here Caitlin." Miles whispered quietly, voice choking as he watched her suffering.

"I love you…Miles…" Caitlin's voice had become a horse whisper. She shut her eyes tightly and gripped Miles' hand until it turned white.

"Saved the world." She murmured. "I love…Miles…"

She gasped one more time, and then her body went completely limp as the last breath of life escaped her lungs and flitted into the open air. Miles sat, shock still, and then he went to check for a pulse.

Nothing. There was _nothing there_.

"Caitlin!" Miles shook her limp body weakly, "Caitlin! Don't die…"

He could feel tears prickling his eyes and he let them out, felt them fall down his cheeks. He double checked and triple checked the pulse but still felt nothing.

"She's dead." He whispered. "She's dead." He repeated a little louder, as if saying it louder would make the hurt stop. Because now he hurt. He'd never, ever felt as hurt as he did right now.

Caitlin was dead. And if she was dead, he may as well be too.

He hugged her still warm yet limp body, and then gently lay her down. The other employees were watching the commotion now; a few whispers were passed around and a few people pointed. Eyes burning, Miles turned to David.

"You." He whispered, that one word laced with so much hurt and fury it made all the others around him flinch. David took a quick step back.

"I'm so sorry." he said, mustering up all the tenderness and sympathy he had and hoping it would be enough.

"You're sorry?" Miles asked, standing up and staring him in the eye. "We've just been caught in an explosion. Most of your employees are badly injured; some are dead. Caitlin is dead. And all you can say is I'm _sorry_?"

"If those monorails and that building hadn't been built to withstand a nuclear bomb, half the people in this city would be dead. You'd all be dead!" David retorted, gesturing around and stepping another step back.

"If you hadn't started this stupid thing in the first place, _no-one_ would be dead!" Miles shouted. "Now do you see the consequences of all your stupid experiments? She and so many other people are dead, and it's all because of you and that stupid orchid!"

"But we made so many advances!" David said, trying to defend himself. "So many more people are alive because of us! So many people walking free because of what we did!"

Nimrod growled. Miles pointed at him,

"You call creating creatures to kill other people and create a super species of human an _advance_?" he cried, "Look around you! This hasn't helped people, you killed them!" he paused, and his eyes narrowed.

"And now I'm going to kill you." He said coldly. Laura and Rich noticed a slight shift in his eyes as they changed colour and the pupils narrowed into slits.

"Miles!" Laura shouted.

"Don't do it kid!" Rich added. "Don't you dare!"

Miles ignored them. With surprising strength and speed he launched himself at David, who ducked to the side just in time. Miles landed nimbly on the ground, and everyone could feel the electricity in the air as it gathered around him. There was a sharp crack as a bolt of electricity erupted from Miles and made it's way to David, who jumped behind the monorail cart; barely missing the bolt by a centimetre.

"Miles!" Laura screamed, "Miles, _stop_!"

Another crack. The other victims of the crash began joining in, some cheering and some screaming. One man grabbed David's leg as he tried to get away, shouting in triumph as he tripped and landed with a thud on the ground. His eyes widened with fear as he watched Miles steady himself, ready to deliver one last blow…

"Miles! Stop it!"

Everyone froze. Every single person at the site turned their heads towards the voice, and Miles himself couldn't help turning, automatically trying to pinpoint the source.

He saw Nimrod, sitting with a proud look on his face. Beside him was Caitlin's body, and Miles' heart leapt in his chest when he saw her sit up slowly and turn to face him, eyes shining brightly.

"You're not a murderer." She said quietly, and then grinned. "And neither is he."

Everyone's mouths dropped open. There was a moment of silence where everyone held their breaths, and then all of a sudden there was a cheer.

"She's alive!" a man chorused, "Hey everybody, she's alive!"

More cheers, a few claps. A few of the less injured got up and crawled over to Caitlin, offering hands to help her stand up. Miles, Rich and Laura watched, frozen to the spot as Caitlin stood up and walked over, each step stronger and more determined than the last. She went to Miles, then flung her arms around him and gripped him so tightly he could hardly breathe.

"How…?" he coughed, "How did you…?"

Caitlin gripped him tighter and he felt his shoulder go wet with tears, "Nim helps." She sobbed, smiling.

Miles understood it then. Nimrod had healed her. The thought made him dizzy with glee.

She was healed, she was cured, she was…

He suddenly remembered when the creatures had bitten him. Nimrod had healed him then, and look where he was now.

Caitlin was cured. And now she was cursed too.

"We've got the cure back home." Caitlin whispered into his ear, "It's doesn't matter now. Forget it."

Miles was about to ask how she knew that, but decided to leave it. He knew the answer already.

There was a chorus of 'awww' and several people began scrabbling to Nimrod, dragging other people behind them. Nimrod looked to Miles and he gave a short nod, and Nimrod began to heal the others. Laura, Rich and Phil gathered around them.

"Thank god!" Laura cried, flinging her arms around Caitlin. "I thought you were dead!"

Caitlin laughed, "I thought I was too. Thank god for Nimrod, eh?"

"That was so awesome!" Phil cried, "No-ones dead! We're all accounted for!"  
Rich hung back. "Hey!" he shouted. "Where's Lee?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Miles saw something slink into the water. It was only brief, but he could have sworn he saw a tail fly into the depths.

"I think he's okay." He said smiling, and he hoped Lee knew what he was doing. They all stayed like that for a moment, each enjoying the other's company and the fact that they were still alive, and then slowly they turned their heads to the wreck. None of them noticed as David, long forgotten, slid out of his hiding place and ran down the street. They were too busy thinking one thing.

It was finally over. They had won.

* * *

The group managed to escape from the scene and hitchhike their way back to the aquarium, the whole time reliving their story in such a frenzy that the driver must have thought they were mad. As if their ruined clothes, various wounds and freaky little mutant lizard weren't bad enough. Once they got to the aquarium, they waved their coach off and walked to the door, grinning, Nimrod hopping along behind them. They didn't notice the five cars parked outside as they walked across the car park.

"Did you see that?!" Phil cried excitedly, "The monorail just went, wham! Off the rail! Sparks flying everywhere, and then _crash_ through the wall! It was better than _Speed_!"

Rich laughed, "I didn't think we'd make it out of there alive!"

"I'm surprised we managed to get _in_ there!" Laura cried, grinning. "Miles, what the hell were you thinking with that bloody blanket?"

"It worked, didn't it?" Miles protested. Nimrod squawked happily beside him and Miles could see the happy images he was sending in his mind.

Caitlin patted his back, "I thought it was rather clever of you, y'know."

They all giggled madly, and Phil glanced at his watch.

"Ha!" he cried, "It's only five to one! We aren't even late!"

He reached the front door and gripped the handle. "Jackson won't have even had time to call backup! No one will have any idea…"

He paused. The others crowded in behind him.

"What's wrong Phil?" Miles joked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Not a ghost." He said, and then gestured inside. The others looked in. There was a moment of silence, and in that brief moment all the happiness was squeezed out of the group.

"Shit." Rich murmured.

Tracy, Savannah, Caitlin's dad, Miles' parents, Phil's parents, Shaun and Jackson looked up as the door opened, and each person's mouth opened to form an 'oh!'

"I think we're in trouble." Miles commented grimly.

* * *

"Miles Barnett!" Sylvia Barnett exclaimed, stepping forward. "Where have you been young man? And…" she gasped as she eyed their wounds. "what have you been _doing_?"

Phil and Miles glanced at Jackson, who was standing behind the angry parents, frantically waving his arms and mouthing, 'no!'

"We went out to get some food." Phil explained coolly, the lie passing his lips with ease. "And Caitlin had to get herself stuck in a thorn bush."

"It wasn't my fault." Caitlin murmured, playing the part. "You pushed me!"

"Anyway, we tried to help her out and this bird flies out of nowhere. We freaked and fell into the bush."

It was a simple lie, but it seemed to work. That was, until Sylvia grinned.

"Really?" she asked. Jackson slapped his forehead and groaned in an almost comic fashion. She turned around and faced the others.

"We were told that you just went down to the beach for a swim." Sylvia said matter-of-factly. Tracy glared at Laura, obviously disapproving the fact her husband was swimming in his boxers around another woman. There was a stunned silence for a moment, one group looking down on them smugly and the other gulping down the fear of having to tell them.

"If we'd told you." Caitlin began weakly, "You would have never let us go."

"What kind of an excuse is that?!" her father retorted. "If there is a reason not to go of course you're not going!"  
"You told me it was over!" Tracy yelled at Rich. "No more secrets! When are you going to leave it Rich! Your brother is long gone!"  
"This isn't about my brother Tracy!" Rich shouted back, "This was about saving everyone else for once!"

"And you!" Tracy turned to Laura. "You little bitch! Stay away from my husband!" she shouted, advancing on her. Laura held her hands up.

"Look, I swear, I never…"

This was interrupted as Tracy's palm connected with her face, landing the stinging blow with a sharp crack. Laura took a few seconds to recover, and then she looked up at Tracy, glaring daggers.

"_How dare you!_" she screamed at the top of her voice.

"Don't even think about it Dee!" Shaun held her back. Laura turned to face him, her fury deciding to vent towards him instead.

"Let go of me!" she shouted, ripping her arm away. "I don't know how you have the gall to come and talk to me after what you did!"  
"I had to do it for Jesse!" Shaun protested desperately. "You left him behind Dee!"

Laura laughed darkly, "And you took me away from him again! You thought I was crazy!"

"And you're _not_?" Shaun asked, anger now apparent in his voice, "You practically dumped him on me and then disappeared without a trace. He wakes up at night calling for you because he's having dreams in which people are trying to kill him, and weird creatures are springing up from the ocean! And you didn't care!"

"Didn't care?!" Laura's already exploded composure was crumbling away fast. "I love Jesse! You don't know how much I wanted to be with him! When you sent me off, they _did_ try to kill me! And it was all your fault! Can you even begin to imagine what would have happened if they'd done it, huh?"

"They told me you'd be protected!" Shaun argued.

"You are going to be grounded for the rest of your life young man!" Phil's father cried over him. "I am never, ever letting you out of my sight again!"

"I told you that little mutant freak was trouble!" His mother said almost triumphantly, grabbing Phil's arm and beginning to drag him, struggling, out the door.

"Excuse me?" Ron whirled around. "Don't you dare talk about my son like that!"

"It's that bloody lizard's fault!" Sylvia screeched, pointing to a growling Nimrod. Miles jumped in front of him.

"Leave him alone!" he shouted. "What happened to letting me keep him! He was better to me than you two ever were!"

"Guys!" Jackson threw himself into the throng, "Guys! _Calm down!_"

Soon the whole room was full of screams as everyone began to fight, each one determined to outdo the other. The voices got louder, and test tubes began to rattle in their stands. The voices reached a loud crescendo, melding into one shout of anger that flowed in from all sides.

"Hello? Guys? _Could you all shut the hell up for one second!?_"

The shouts instantly came to a hault as the loud, hollow noise erupted over the shouts. Savannah stood in the middle of the group, one hand pressing firmly onto her ear and the other gripping a thick rolled up bunch of papers. She stood there for a second, making sure everyone had stopped, and then took her hand away and threw the paper to the side.

"God, I'm going to have permanent ear damage for the rest of my life." She complained, "You guys were going crazy. Am I the only responsible person here?"

She glared at them all. "What is it with you guys? The minute something goes wrong you chuck a fit. Didn't even bother actually finding out where they went. And you," she turned to Miles, Caitlin and Phil, "I though you three would have at least tried to tell the truth." She threw her hands up in the air, "Jesus Christ. What am I supposed to do with you lot?"

She turned to Miles, "Okay. Let's start with you. Because you are my brother and you're worse at lying than Bilbo here," She gestured to Phil, who glared at her. "So, where were you?"

She waited for an answer. Miles was silent, partly because he was annoyed that his sister was bossing him about again, but then he cleared his throat.

"Um…" He began. "Well…last night Laura got a call from this guy called Davis Lee telling us to go down to Iderdex and find out about the creatures…"

"What?!" came the parent's shocked voices.

"What did I say?" Savannah commented angrily, glaring at them. They shut their mouths, and Savannah nodded. "Continue."

"So we went down there, but we got caught." Miles continued. "We managed to fry their generator and blow up the building."

Wisely, he left out the bit about the crash and Caitlin's temporary death. Even so, those few words were enough to make everyone's faces go pale.

"You blew it up." Dr. Blume repeated, "Oh my god…"

"Don't worry!" Laura assured him. "We had a good reason."

Phil's mother rolled her eyes. "Yes, that makes it so much better."

"How did you guys get here?" Miles asked. The others glanced at each other.

"I came to check up on you kids." Sylvia confessed. "And then we found out nobody was here. I called up everyone else."

"God Mom." Miles shook his head. "It's not like we need looking after twenty-four seven."

"If you go around blowing up buildings in your spare time I think you certainly do."

"You underestimate your son Mrs. Barnett." Rich butted in, "He saved the world today. If you ask me, that's pretty good for your average teenager."

"It's true." Laura added, patting Miles on the shoulder. "He really saved the day. I sure would want him as my son."

"What about Jesse?" Shaun asked her. "Aren't you happy with him?"

Laura frowned, "It was a compliment Shaun. I love Jesse and there is nothing else to it."

There was a brief pause as both parents tried to gather an argument.  
"Why couldn't you leave it alone Dee?" Shaun asked. Laura shrugged.

"I don't know." She said, exasperated, "I don't know why I bothered anymore. I just wanted to prove something, do something with my life. I saw the creatures first!"

"And you left behind everything else." Shaun added.

"Maybe I did." Laura admitted. "And I still didn't prove anything. But what would have happened if I'd stayed with Jesse? None of this would have happened. Rich would be dead for one, Miles and Caitlin wouldn't have found a cure, Lee would be dead and we'd all be drowning by now."

She paused. "Jesse understands I had to do that. Why can't you?"

Shaun didn't make a move, didn't falter. But Laura could see that she had indeed made a mark.

"I've made mistakes," Laura continued. "I can admit that. But I swear it's all over now. I'm coming home for good this time."

"Why can't you be like that for your own family?" Tracy asked Rich suddenly, her voice tipped with malice. Rich turned to her and took a deep breath.

"Okay, Tracy. Look, I'll admit it. I haven't been totally honest with you about everything okay? And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've been so stupid and lied to you. But I did because I wanted to protect you. I had people running after me, and I was afraid if they got hold of you I'd lose you too."

"No you didn't." Tracy accused, "You just wanted to avenge your brother."

Rich shrugged. "Maybe that had a bit to do with it too. But…" he paused, "I'm over it now."

Silence.

"A few months ago, I would have done anything to those creatures, just to get my revenge." Rich said, "But I've changed now. I stopped caring about him, what he would have wanted. I was just angry. I thought if I did something, anything to stop them I'd get him back. But now I've realised that he wouldn't want me to go around moping for the rest of my life. And he certainly wouldn't have wanted me to let my family get away from me." he laid a hand on her shoulder. "But even so, I had to finish this Tracy. I'm part of it now, and I knew you wouldn't have understood if I'd told you."

"How do you know that?" Tracy asked angrily. Rich gestured to Laura, whose cheek was flushed a bright red.

"The fact that you slapped Laura suggests you don't have complete faith in me." he pointed out.

"And why not?" Tracy protested. "You're a different man. My Rich disappeared a year ago. I thought I'd gotten you back, and now you lie to me again. Is this really a better you Rich?"

Rich shook his head. "Look, I don't know. But from now on, I promise I will tell you everything. Word for word. Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you."

More silence. Tracy thought for a moment, and then her face grew grim.

"Did you ever kiss her?" she said, gesturing to Laura. Laura blushed, and an awkward silence descended over the group.

"Yes." Rich said tentatively. "But it wasn't serious, I just…"

He frowned in confusion. Tracy was smiling, "What? Aren't you supposed to be hopping mad right about now?"  
"You told the truth." She said happily. "You can tell me the rest later. Right now it's good enough for me."

She drew him into a hug and pecked him lightly on the cheek. Savannah coughed.

"S'cuse me, sorry. I'm glad we've all sorted out our differences, but can we please get a move on here? If anyone's noticed, it's one 'o' clock in the morning. I don't know about you, but I'd like to go back to bed."

"I'll agree to that!" Jackson said. "I've done enough for one night."

"I might stay here awhile." Miles glanced at Caitlin as he said this, and she picked up the hint.

"Me too." She offered. "Maybe we'll do some real help this time around."

The parents caught this by-play, but nobody said anything. Ron, Sylvia and Paul glanced at each other, gave a resigned sigh and nodded.

"Fine." Ron said, smiling warmly. "But don't stay up too long, okay?"

"I'll pick you up in the morning." Paul added, throwing a ring of keys at Caitlin. "Lock up when we leave."

"Bye guys!" Phil waved as he walked towards the door, "See ya tomorrow!"

They each began to file out until Rich, Laura, Miles, Nimrod and Caitlin were the only ones who remained. They glanced at each other, and grinned.

"I guess that's it." Laura said. The words sounded weird coming out of her mouth, almost a fake promise.

"I suppose." Miles said. He laughed, "It was great knowing you."

"You talk like we're never going to see each other again!" Caitlin cried, throwing her hands in the air dramatically. Nimrod jumped away from her and gave a screech, then edged towards Miles for safety.

Rich shook his head. "How about we leave it for the moment. Wait till this all blows over."

"How about in a month?" Laura suggested. "Say…the eighth."

"Works for me." Miles said. Caitlin nodded. They each smiled at each other again, and Rich held out his hand.

"See you in a month's time." He said, shaking their hands politely. He and Laura left, and a new silence descended over the other two who remained.

"Guess we'd better get a move on." Miles suggested. "You know where the cure is kept. I might head down to the marsh; see how the others are going."

Caitlin nodded, then headed for the lab. Nimrod followed. Miles glanced around, grabbed a large coat which he presumed belonged to Jackson off a chair and then headed out the door.

* * *

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, and this time I'll name em'

Podge17, Stargal88, Nimster57 and city girl...THANK YOU!!!! And thank you SkyHighFan, my wonderful beta!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three chapters left...


	22. Loose Ends

yes, I know, I said I'd update but I didn't...:( I'm terrible! School really sucks...

Well, I've done it now...only two chapters left! AHH! And thank you hsmgirl14 for all the reviews...i've now hit ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS! YIPPEE!

I think I rushed the end a little, I wanted to get the chapter up...I'm relying on your opinions here!

As usual, enjoy, and continue reviewing! You won't have to do it much longer I swear...

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface, but I'm finally going to get the dvd! YES!

* * *

Loose Ends. 

It was icy cold down at the marsh. Even with the jacket Miles could feel the cool breeze biting his warm body, stinging his face. But it was quiet. It gave him time to think.

He didn't have much time to himself however. Because barely five minutes later he heard a voice calling him.

"Hello! Who's that?"

He recognised the voice instantly. He turned around and grinned as he saw the human shape bobbing in the water. It was a woman, she looked about in her middle years and she had short blonde hair which was clinging to her skull from the water.

"Over here!" Samantha waved. "Hello!"

"Samantha!" Miles shouted happily, running up to the water. Samantha swam towards him.

"Miles? That you?" She squinted at him as she neared the shore. "So that's what you look like…human."

She sunk down into the water, "Hey, can I have your jacket? It's freezing down here."

Miles blushed, remembering his same predicament. Respectfully, he turned away and handed Samantha the coat as she quickly jumped out of the water and covered herself.

He turned back. Samantha had the coat wrapped around her and was holding it tightly. She shivered as the cold nipped at her bare legs, and then suddenly tripped under her own weight.

"Ugh." She grimaced as Miles bent down to help her up. "This is not how I imagined my career to go."

"You'll have to find a new one soon." Miles commented, pulling her to her feet, "We just blew up Iderdex."

"I know!" Samantha nodded enthusiastically, "I saw it! Very good job! How did you do it?"

"We had inside help." Miles said, grinning. "Good to have you back, by the way."

"Good to be back." Samantha commented, and then she tripped up again and collapsed onto the ground.

"Mind you…" she said looking up at Miles from the ground, "It might take time to get used to everything again…" she paused, "Curious." She said, voicing her thoughts aloud. "I can see perfectly. Twenty-twenty vision. This'll be fun explaining to my optometrist."

Miles helped her up again, "What are you going to do now?" he asked, "You can come stay at my place if you like."

Samantha shook her head. "No. Tonight I'm going back to my family. First though, I need to call a cab. I left a lot of belongings in a storage centre before I started working for them in case this happened, so I need to go get it."

"Do you want me to call a cab?"

"No, I have a number I can call. No questions asked kind of thing."

Miles nodded. "I don't have a cell, so we'll have to go back up to the aquarium anyway. Come on." He grinned. "Your life awaits you."

* * *

Samantha jiggled the key in the lock impatiently.

"Come on…" she murmured. There was a sharp click as the lock snapped open, and she was finally able to open the garage and enter.

She sighed with relief at the sight of her familiar household items. Some of this stuff she hadn't seen for years. She walked over to an old wardrobe and began to rummage through it, looking for some reasonably warm clothes.

"I took the liberty to get some out for you." Came a voice from behind her.

Startled, Samantha swung around. She was greeted with nothing but shadows.

"Who's that?" she asked tentatively.

"You know who I am." The voice answered, its tough yet silky smooth voice rolling through her mind with ease. It wasn't a voice she could recognise.

"I have no idea who you are." She stated, a little braver this time. "Show yourself!"

The voice was unperturbed, "I don't think that it such a good idea." It said. "I'm not exactly in the best shape."

"I'm warning you." Samantha glared at the shadows, scouring them with her newly improved vision. There was a slight shift of movement behind a couch that lay abandoned and moth ridden in the corner. She took a step forward.

"I wouldn't." the voice warned.

"Who _are_ you?" Samantha demanded again.

There was silence for a second, and then the voice spoke again. This time, its smooth voice was peppered by one that she did recognise.

"I'm your new partner."

Samantha jumped backwards and almost collided with the wardrobe behind her.

"It's you!" she shouted angrily, "Davis Lee! What are you doing here?"

"I've come to bargain with you."

"What's wrong with your voice?" she asked.

"You weren't the only one taken off." He spoke with such hostility, and Samantha couldn't help being curious. "Now I want to help you."

"You took me away from my family." Samantha growled, "You dragged me away and threw me into the ocean. Why the hell should I trust you?"

Another movement. Samantha could swear she saw a tail twitch out of the corner of her eye.

"Because you can use me." Lee said. "All your work was lost in the explosion, all those years of hard work. When they captured me, they improved me. I'm offering myself as a guinea pig, a test subject. You can continue your work and then some."

Samantha frowned. "But…you can be human again! They have a cure…"

"It won't work. I'm a new species. Their cure works only for the others. I can't be cured unless you find a cure. And until then I'd like to lend myself to science."

Samantha shook her head. "I can't do that. Besides, where would I get supplies? Or funds?"

"The old Iderdex building is still standing." Lee explained, "There are bank accounts all over the world with millions of dollars waiting to be used, all in the company's name. We can start a new company. Research new ways to kill disease. Help people. Come on Dr. Morris, it's a dream come true. A chance to do things the company would have never let us."  
Samantha thought carefully. This was a great opportunity, she had to admit. But could she trust Lee? She had to see him.

She slowly walked over to the couch and peered over the edge. One glance was all it took to make her wheel away gasping.

The creature wasn't as large as the previous experiment, but it looked just as deadly. A pointed face with a beak-like mouth curling slightly downwards, covering two sets of needle sharp teeth. The head was attached to a long, slender neck which was in turn attached to a bulky middle. The feet were currently curled under the body, but Samantha could make out a fine layer of webbing and five large claws. A long spine ran down the length of the body, right down to the tail which was curled lazily around the creature, almost catlike in its demeanour. The whole thing was a shimmering navy blue colour, with a pair of bright yellow pupils that drilled deep into Samantha and floated in front of her eyes as she backed away.

"You…you…" she couldn't form the words.

"Do we have a deal or not?" the words barely registered in Samantha's mind, but she did catch the hint of desperation. Lee, whatever he was, really wanted to help. She thought of the possibilities. The creature behind her couch was powerful, no doubt about it, and she could advance medical science to the extreme if she could harness that power.

"Okay." She said, loud and clear. Lee nodded his head.

"Thank you." He said sincerely. Then Samantha watched as he shot out of the garage and into the night, a mere shadow against the wall.

Samantha stared out the door for a moment, and then began searching for a bag. She was going home no matter what.

* * *

Miles turned the jar of pills around in his hands. He shook it a little, and listened to the tiny capsules rattling in their prison. He hadn't touched this thing since he'd been cured, and even now he was hesitating as he summed up his options and stared at himself in the pristine bathroom mirror. He vaguely remembered the last time he had stood there staring at the mirror, when the lights had begun flickering. That was then, this was now, and yet his reflection was still staring back at him; a normal reflection that at first glance told nothing of the unnatural genes that lurked below the surface. Those that caused so much suffering, so much pain, and yet opened up to so many amazing worlds, so many options.

A few months ago, he would have given anything for this chance. The chance to give up his burdens and become a normal teenager. _Finally, this is my chance to be normal again._

So why was he hesitating?

Maybe he didn't want to be normal. His mind drifted to the conversation he and Caitlin had had before the tsunami.

_All of my friends are worried that there's nothing special about them, that they'll never find out what their life is about. But you, you find something that no-one on this _planet_ has ever seen before. Something you claimed you loved. You're destroying it._

Did he really want to lose his gift forever? He had been granted the one chance to really find out what his life was about. He had something unique that nobody, not even the experimented employees would ever experience, something truly special. This was it. Normal or mutant for the rest of his life. Which one would he choose?

Miles looked at the jar one last time, and then dropped it in the bin.

* * *

Laura lay in her bed, her nice, soft warm bed, and listened to the sounds of birds chirping. She wondered why birds bothered to chirp at one 'o' clock in the morning, and then decided that it didn't really matter. Then her mind began to wander to other things…

It was all over…and yet Laura couldn't help feeling that there was still something missing. She traced her steps back through the past few months, making a mental checklist of everything she had done.

_Let's see…I made it to Iderdex and found out about the creatures, we cured Miles, we destroyed Iderdex, we found Jackson…_

She paused.

_Jackson grinned, "Hiya Dee! Glad to see you made it!"_

"_Of course. You know me, I'm a fighter! I though you'd drowned or been eaten or something!"_

_Jackson laughed, "You wish. After you guy left in the submersible the water churned and the boat got a bit of damage so I had to turn back. I thought you guys had died"_

But Jackson never made it to shore, because they found the empty boat. With bloodstains.

Laura mulled over this new revelation for a moment. She couldn't believe why she hadn't realised sooner. But why would Jackson need to lie?

What really happened after they went down in the submersible?

At that exact moment, the phone rang. Laura rolled her eyes. First chirping birds, and now ringing phones. She'd never get a moment's peace! She was hesitant to answer, considering the last time she had she'd almost been blown up in a monorail crash a few hours later, but after the second ring she picked it up.

"Hello?" she asked, not bothering to hide her annoyance.

"Is this Dr. Daughtery?"

The voice was young and female. Not one that Laura instantly recognised.

"Yes." She answered cautiously. "Who am I speaking to?"

"My name is Jessica Walker, and I work with the Missing Persons Bureau. I have some news for you."

Laura frowned. Missing Persons? Who did _she_ know who was missing?

"I believe you are a friend of Jackson …?"

Laura frowned.

"Yes…but he's not missing. I just saw him, barely an hour ago."

There was a stunned silence from the other end, and then a cough.

"Miss Daughtery," The woman spoke slowly and sympathetically "I know it's hard for you to get over the death of a loved one. I can recommend several therapists…"

"No, no, no. Stop!" Laura interrupted, holding her hand up even though the woman couldn't see it. "Jackson is _alive._ I _talked_ to him."

More silence on the other end.

"I'm afraid that's impossible." The woman stated bluntly. "See, we found some rooms that had been protected from the explosion, and inside we found…" she paused, searching for the right word. "…several people that have been missing for years."

"There were survivors?" Laura asked hopefully.

The next words sounded hesitant, and laced with extreme caution.

"They weren't survivors." Jessica explained. "And Jackson's body was found at the wreck."

_What?!_

That simple statement hit Laura like a bus, slamming into her reality and shattering her mind to pieces. Jackson…was dead. The story fitted now. The boat and the bloodstains…

_Holy crap. Jackson is dead._

But that was impossible. Jackson was alive. Jackson had been alive an hour ago. In fact, the others had seen him even earlier. How could he have been down in Iderdex if he was in the aquarium waiting for them at the same time?

Unless…it hadn't been him.

"Are you sure it was him?" Laura asked.

"The coroner has confirmed the body." The woman stated rather obviously, "Listen, I know that…"

The rest of the sentence was lost on Laura. Another idea had just popped into her head, one that was so horrible, so frightening…and yet was the only one that made sense.

"Doctor? Doctor Daughtery…"

_Click._ Laura replaced the phone in its cradle and jumped out of bed with lightning speed. She grabbed a bundle of clothes and began to sort through them, pulled on a large shirt and jeans and then reached into a drawer and pulled out a small, hard bundle. Determination fuelling her steps, she strode out of her room.

She needed to find out some things. Right now.

* * *

Jackson was asleep when Laura got to his place, but that didn't stop her banging on the door and pressing the door bell several times.

"Who's that?" came the groggy voice that she recognised so well.

"Open up!" she shouted.

"Dee?"

The front door opened and Jackson stepped out, dressed in his pyjamas, hair ruffled from sleep. He stared at Laura for a moment, and then his eyes widened as Laura pulled the gun from under her shirt and pointed it at him.

"Who are you?" she asked flatly, hand shaking as she pointed the gun at him. Jackson grew cross-eyed as he followed the barrel towards his head. He blinked a couple of times, and then his brain finally caught up with him and he realised the seriousness of the situation.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He shouted. "Dee, it's me, Jackson! I'm your _friend_, remember?"

"You aren't Jackson." Laura said, unweilding. "Jackson is dead. They found the body at Iderdex. You are supposed to be dead."

Jackson didn't say a word; he just stared at her for a moment. He kept glancing between her and the gun, obviously trying to keep his nerve. Eventually he sighed.

"Laura." He said calmly. "Put. The gun. Down. I'll explain it to you if you just put it down."

"Explain it? You knew?!"

Jackson saw she had no intention of dropping her weapon, so he instead bit his lip and hastily began to think of an explanation.

"While you two were in the submersible," he began. "Something attacked me. I'm not sure what happened or who it was, all I remember is being hit on the head and then waking up in a hospital without a clue who I was or what had happened. Or at least I think it was a hospital. There were these people that kept talking about saving me from a shark, and I believed them. And then, one day, one of them sort of went all secretive and told me that I hadn't actually been attacked by a shark, but by a weird sea creature that they had discovered but didn't want the government to know about, and they figured that since I'd been up against one first hand I might be able to help them."

Laura was still shaking. "So you started working for them."

"They taught me all this stuff before I went to work, and I had no idea why I was remembering it all so well. But I couldn't remember anything before the hospital either, so I assumed I was very smart or had worked on this stuff before. So I went to work with them, and that was fine for a few weeks. They offered me money, transportation and accommodation, so I was pretty well off. But then I started remembering things…weird things. Like I was heading home one day and I saw this house, and it looked really familiar, and then I saw this news report on TV with this woman whom I could have sworn I'd met before…" Jackson glanced up at her briefly. "anyway, a few months later I was taking a look around the place, checking the cryogenic stores were working and such, and I came across this stray pod in my section. I decided to take a look inside and…" he gulped. "I found me."

Laura blinked. "Huh?"

"I just saw it, this body, and I could remember everything. I remembered you; I remembered the creatures…the men who saved me were the ones who attacked me."

"But how can you be here now?" Laura asked, still confused. And then it clicked.

"Lee was cloned." She said rather absently. "Kessler was cloned…you were cloned."

Jackson nodded. Laura's head was spinning, clouding her head and jumbling her thoughts as that nod confirmed everything she'd suspected.

"They killed me so that I wouldn't talk, and then copied me to milk me of what I knew." Jackson tried to explain. "That stuff I remembered…it was like some kind of genetic memory. Birds always know to fly south, baby kangaroos crawl up to their mother's pouch to get milk, salmon swim upstream to spawn, and I walked to my own house and recognised you on TV. But Laura, I swear, just because I was cloned doesn't mean I'm not Jackson."

Laura shook her head. "No, you're not! You're a copy! You're not Jackson!"

She was shaking violently now, tears threatening to pour out of her face. Her Jackson was dead and this weird thing, this other man had replaced him, and she hadn't even known. She should have figured it out, she should have realised…

"For your birthday last year I gave you a blue jumper. The one that didn't fit?"

Laura paused. Jackson was looking up at her expectantly.

"We first became friends in high school." He continued. "Year twelve. We were running in the cross country marathon, and you tripped over and twisted your ankle. I had to practically drag you along the track and over the finish line. We ended up coming last _and_ getting a lecture from the principal because they'd sent out a search party for us after someone reported that you'd hurt yourself. Fun day that was."

Laura couldn't help but laugh. She lowered the gun slightly and Jackson saw his chance.

"Laura." He pleaded. "I may be a little different, but I swear I am still Jackson."

Laura bit her lip, and then lowered the gun. She dropped it and it hit the ground with a loud 'clunk', and she immediately threw her arms around him.

"I'm sorry." she sobbed. Jackson, relived that she wasn't going to blow his brains out, put his arms around her too.

"S'okay." He murmured. "Next time just don't point a gun at me okay?"

Laura laughed. "You might have a tough time explaining to Missing Persons why you are still alive."

Jackson winked. "I'll think of something. Now how about I take you home?"

* * *

Like? ;) 

Thanks go out to my awesome beta SkyHighFan (you won't have to put up with me much longer) and all those who reviewed! Podge17, Nimster57 and Stargal88, you guys rock! Oh, and thank you hsmgirl14 for breaking the record for most reviews posted in one day...i owe you one girl!


	23. Epilogue

Hello people, I'm back!

As a few of you might know, I left fanfiction temporarily as I was having a few personal troubles...I was going to continue on writing this in that time because I was almost finished but, as you can obviously see, I didn't. So now I have decided to do a massive (well, for me anyhow) update!

These are the last two chapters...I hope you enjoy as usual!

* * *

And now, the story draws to a close. But you are all probably wondering…what happens next?

News crews were posted around the remains of Iderdex for weeks. Police were baffled, and several conspiracy theories began to roam. Scientists found some evidence of unknown DNA samples, Laura and Rich's interview was posted on all the stations and many believed that they had been proven correct. The government pulled away all funds that had previously been diverted to the company and sold the patents for millions. Most of them were bought by a recently opened pharmaceutical company called Guideline, and a few weeks later the same company bought an old factory down in North Carolina and began manufacturing high-quality medicines for the general public. The victims of the monorail crash all developed a weird blood disease and Guideline offered up a vaccine. As soon as they were treated the disease disappeared and all was forgotten. The creatures were filed as a new species, and Laura, Rich, Miles and Caitlin were given credit for the discovery. The police are still looking for the criminals responsible for blowing up the Iderdex building.

Laura got her old job back and basically continued with her life for a while. A few years later she quit her job and opened a diving school. Two years later she applied for and received a bachelor's degree in marine biology, but she never really used it. She and Jackson remained friends, although Jackson struggled with the authorities for a while over the fact that his body was in the morgue, but when they went to check they found that it had mysteriously disappeared…

Rich stayed far away from the insurance company, and instead applied to join the police force. He and Tracy are still together with the girls, and they still live in their old house down in Louisiana. He still visits the church graveyard every fortnight with a bunch of flowers, but now it seems the voices have stopped haunting him.

Miles and Caitlin continued to date, and then went to the same university after they graduated with scholarships. They moved in together a year after. Caitlin took up her father's job at the aquarium and Miles went to work with Laura at the diving school. Eventually they got married, and they live quite happily together in a house close to the beach with their two children, Nathaniel and Elizabeth.

Miles and Caitlin weren't the only ones who found love; a few months after the Iderdex incident Phil came over to Miles' place and confessed that he was in love with his sister.

The power went haywire for the next few days, but even the best electricians could not figure out why.

Savannah decided to go out with him, just to humour him and not hurt his feelings, but she ended up developing quite a soft spot for him. In the end it was made clear that they were dating, and eventually they moved in together. They never really did get around to getting married; but they did have a baby girl they named Hailey.

David Granger and Alger Kessler are still missing and presumed dead. However, word has it that a strange man who looks like David has opened a small research laboratory in Texas.

Nimrod stayed with Miles for years, until he grew too big to keep in the house. He happily returned to the water and spends most of his time with the others, but is never too far from Miles.

Basically, the world returned to normal. But no-one ever forgot that horrible day when land and water became one. And just to finish off, we will leave you with a scene taken a year after the tsunami. It was Miles' birthday…


	24. Epilogue part 2: Old Times Sake

The doorbell rang, loud and clear throughout the house. Miles, who had previously been lying on his bed just staring at the ceiling as per the orders of his mother and Phil, shot up and caused the bed to groan under the sudden weight shift. Nimrod, who was sleeping beside the bed as he had long outgrown the short wooden frame, jumped up and growled at the strange noise.

"I'll get it!" Miles shouted at the top of his voice. He quickly jumped off the bed, and Nimrod followed excitedly. Both were tripping over each other as they sprinted down the stairs, startling Mrs. Barnett as they tumbled down and Miles raced ahead towards the doorway.

"Slow down there Miles!" Sylvia shouted, annoyed. "You are going to hurt yourself one day, I swear to god…"

"Who's that?" came Phil's voice from the kitchen where he had been working with Sylvia for the last half hour. Miles ignored him completely, and when he finally reached the door he pulled it open with as much force as he could muster. Immediately he was greeted with a hug that squeezed the air out of his lungs. He glimpsed a beaming smile, a crown of shiny light brown hair and a fair face which he could have recognised anywhere.

"Miles!" Caitlin cried, releasing him from the suffocating hug. Miles breathed in some sweet air for a moment, attempting to re-inflate his lungs, and then he smiled at her.

"You made it!" he said breathlessly. Caitlin rolled her eyes.

"Like I'd miss the most important day of the year!" she exclaimed, and then she held up a bright blue box.

"Happy birthday!" she sang cheerfully, handing the box over to Miles like it was some sacred object. Miles took it graciously, and eyed it over eagerly.

"Go on, you know you want to." Caitlin said, catching his eagerness and smiling at him with a cheeky glint in her eye. Miles laughed, and then slowly eased the lid off the mysterious gift. Inside he found a little photo of him and Nimrod sitting by a fence, surrounded by a dainty glass frame that seemed full of little pictures of marine life. It was beautiful, and when Miles held it up the sun shone through it and made it light up in front of him.

"Wow." He breathed. "Thank you!"

"Thought you'd like it!" she squealed delightedly at the look on his face. Nimrod shied away and screeched as a bit of light refracted off the glass, and seemed a bit annoyed when Caitlin and Miles laughed at him. He retreated to the staircase and began to watch Sylvia intently as she vacuumed the floor and contented himself with chasing dust mites.

Caitlin and Miles were heading to the kitchen when there was another knock on the door. Miles put down the frame and ran over to the door.

"Guys!" he cried as the door swung open, revealing the smiling faces of Rich, Laura and Jackson. "Glad you guys could make it!"

"We almost didn't." Laura grumbled, turning to Jackson. "Because _someone _forgot to fill the petrol tank."

"It's not my fault!" Jackson protested, pointing to Rich. "_He_ forgot the present!"

"Don't look at me!" Rich protested back. "If you hadn't…"

Miles watched them, amused.

"Honestly." He said. "And you think I'm childish."

"That's because we're older than you!" Laura grinned and held up a big box wrapped in purple tissue paper. "Happy birthday Miles!"

Miles put it to the side for the moment; there would be plenty on time to open it later.

He lead the others to the kitchen, where Phil was waiting patiently next to a large chocolate birthday cake…it made Miles feel like a little kid again. When birthdays weren't about who saw who kissing who or which box contained the Ipod…it was about friends and family meeting up to celebrate the day life was created for one of them. True, most birthdays didn't follow a series of events that turned you into a mutant, almost killed several of the friends now surrounding you and that would have doomed the entire human race, but there you have it.

"Finally." Phil lamented. "Do you like the cake? Spent forever getting the damn thing ready…almost burnt it."

Miles grinned. "Its great!" He replied. He was still so deep in his reminiscing that he almost didn't hear the next sharp knock at the door. He heard his mother greet the new guest and the clicks of two feet as they entered the house…

"Samantha!" he cried when she finally came into sight. "You made it!"

Samantha laughed. Miles hadn't seen her for a few months, but she still looked the same. Shiny blonde hair, intelligent brown eyes hidden behind a pair of delicate glasses, a smile that lit up the room...the only difference was the rather large bump in her light apricot coloured dress.

"Hi all!" she said as she walked into the room. "I…oh!" she clutched her stomach and doubled over slightly, wincing a little.

"Hasn't stopped wriggling." She joked, straightening up. "Takes after the father, I suppose."

"Do you need a hand?" Miles asked, a little concerned. Samantha shook her head and pulled out a chair.

"I'll be alright." She said, "Although I could use some water, if you don't mind."

"Not at all!" said Sylvia, instinctively reaching for a glass and the fridge at the same time. "Chilled alright?"

Samantha nodded. Miles took his own seat and the conversation began at once.

"How's Lee?" Rich asked, always the first to ask questions.

"He's doing fine." Samantha said. "The company is doing great now that we've successfully cultured the chromosome…but we still haven't come close to figuring out any cure."

"What about David?" this time the question was from Phil. "Have the police found him yet?"

Rich shook his head. "I haven't heard anything if they have. He's a shifty character, I'll give him that."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "We don't need reminding on that point."

Laura gave him a sidewards glance. Miles caught it but didn't say anything. He had noticed recently that they had been giving each other funny looks around the topic of what had happened…he just assumed that it was an inside joke or something.

_They would make a great couple._ He thought to himself. Cheeky thoughts began to creep into his head, and he had to turn his head away to avoid laughing.

"Now!" Came Sylvia's loud voice as she returned with water, "I think it's time we lit the birthday cake!"

From her pocket she produced a box of matches and a large candle with the numbers "17" emblazoned in red, and she quickly struck one match across the side of the box. When it had lit she carefully lent over and poked the candle on top of the cake and lit it, shaking the match quickly and discarding it while singing.

"Happy birthday to you…" she began, and then the others joined in.

"Happy birthday to you…

Happy birthday dear Miles!

Happy birthday to you! Hip hip hooray!"

Miles rolled his eyes, then grinned and blew out the candle. The smoke rose in little coils and floated lazily in the air before disappearing in front of his eyes. In an instant, Caitlin had reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a compacted bag of party hats.

"Everyone take one!" she demanded, passing them around. There was a general squabbling as everyone chose a colour…Miles ended up with a funny purple hat and Caitlin failed to put a lime green one on Nimrod's head. Exasperated, she gave it to him and he began to tear it to pieces instead.

"I think we'd better cut into this cake, don't you?" Phil said once they had all calmed down. "Looks good…"

Miles grabbed a knife off the side of the plate and begun to cut large wedges off. Plates were passed around and everyone dug in. When Miles got to Caitlin, she took the plate and smiled in thanks.

"Hey Miles." She said. "I was thinking…do you want to go down to the beach tonight? For old time's sake…"

Miles paused. He hadn't been to the beach in a while…after the explosion at Iderdex, Sylvia had vowed never to let him out of the house ever again, but once he was allowed out he had always been busy somehow…homework, chores, parties, day after day. It pissed him off immensely. Now the perfect opportunity had presented itself to him and he was willing to take it.

"Sure." He replied. Now he had something else to look forward to.

* * *

Caitlin stood on the beach, at the edge of the water. She was barefoot, and the sand felt cool and soft between her toes. There was a slight breeze that caused ripples to run across the otherwise calm water, the only disruption in the silence of the night. A small wave rolled across the water, and when it reached the shore she moved a little closer so it washed over her feet. The cold made her tingle, and she could feel a slight tug as it pulled itself back into the ocean…

"Hey."

She turned around. Miles was standing behind her, also barefoot, hands in his pockets, Nimrod crawling along beside him like a faithful dog.

"Hey." She repeated as they walked towards her. "Fancy a sit down?"

They both dropped down into the sand and sat there for a moment, watching a boat in the distance as it bobbed up and down. Nimrod sidled up beside Miles and cooed before curling his tail behind him and sinking into the sand as well. They all just sat there for a bit, and then Miles spoke.

"Funny isn't it." He said quietly. "A year ago this would have been dead boring."

Caitlin laughed. "Yeah."

Another awkward silence.

"So what happens now?" she asked. "Now that it's all…over?"

Miles cocked his head. "Well, maybe we can have a shot at living a normal life. Get a drivers licence. Keep working at the aquarium. Get my life back into shape a little. I don't know honestly…it's all a bit surreal after everything that's been going on the last few months…"

Nimrod shifted around in the sand. Caitlin laughed again, but this one was slightly cynical.

"It's never really going to be over though, is it?" she stated. "I mean, after everything we've been through…you don't just forget it and move on. It stays with you forever, like a scar. A big red scar over your soul."

Miles blinked, surprised. Where did that come from?

"Caitlin…" he asked cautiously, and then he noticed that she was fiddling with something in her jacket pocket. Before she had a chance to react, he had reached over and pulled it out of her grasp. It was a jar of pills. Miles frowned.

"Are these the pills?" he asked, shaking the bottle. "Why hasn't it been opened yet?"

Caitlin glanced at him guiltily, and it suddenly occurred to Miles what had happened.

"Caitlin." He whispered. "Do you mean you never took these…at all? For a year? Do you know what-?"

"Of course I do!" Caitlin snapped at him. "Of course I know what could happen. But I'm willing to take the risk Miles…you did." She grinned at the shocked look on his face. "Oh come on, you couldn't fool me…you wouldn't take those things in a million years."

"But that's me!" Miles protested. "I've been through it already…"

"And you loved it. You loved every second of it." Caitlin argued back. "You and Nimrod are connected by more than a few adventures together. And you couldn't bear live without it. Well now I'm part of it too, and I'm not sure I want to give away a chance to understand it yet. I don't want to invade anything if that's what you're thinking; I'll never have what you and Nim have. But I've got a chance to find out what _I'm_ about now. You know how it feels…"

Miles was silent for a moment, and then he nodded.

"Yeah, I do." He said, a grin appearing on his face. They both stared into each others eyes, and then the moment was shattered by Nimrod squealing urgently. Heads turned to the water, where a dark figure was slowly sinking below the waves.

"They're waiting for you." Caitlin whispered. "I guess you'd better go."

Another wave rolled lazily onto the beach and lightly touched the couple's toes. They both sat there for a second, staring down at the damp waterline that it had left behind, and then Miles grinned.

"Coming too?" he asked. Caitlin seemed to brighten up a little.

"Sure." She said, smiling warmly. Their hands found each other and they gripped onto one another like lifelines. Without a word, they stood up, and then Caitlin gave Miles a sly look before racing towards the water.

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" She shouted, before diving under. Miles stared at the spot where she had been, gaping, and then laughed and sprinted after her.

Life might not have been completely normal, but it was sure just as fun.

* * *

And on that note, I am sorry to say that that is the end!

First off, I want to thank my beta SkyHighFan whom I could not have done without, and my bestie peppaoceangal who cheered me on through the whole thing even though she still hasn't seen the bloody series ;)

I would like to thank these people for reviewing (and pardon me if I miss a few...) in no particular order:

Peya Luna

hsmgirl14

podge17

Stargal88

Sakuul

city girl

Pessimistic Romanticist

cenzo

Dragonborn

desy

2footnim

Mrs. Joey Armstrong

williamjamesw

Celandine

CrystalShifter

DarkPsion, especially you cos you reviewed me first ;)

And that, my friends, is all for this story...but just for old times sake I am leaving you with a preview for the next one. YES, there will be a next one...but not right now cos I have to finish my other stories and actually write most of it first. :) Be on the lookout...

Thanks for all the support, and I look forward to reading you all again!

waterdragon719


	25. Preview

**Wilmington, North Carolina.**

The bathroom was bright, incredibly bright, covered by the light from a single globe in the corner. Underneath it was a sink and a mirror, beside the sink a pink bathtub and detachable shower head. All around the room was pink flowery wallpaper and the entire place smelled of roses. It all seemed rather familiar…but these details were not important to the man at the current time.

He stood in front of the mirror. He was tall and incredibly skinny with long-ish black hair that curled around his face. His name was Matthew. Or, at least, he thought his name was Matthew. He was a bit hazy on the precise details. The only things that seemed particularly important to him at that moment were the dark red, evil slitted eyes staring back at him from the mirror.

His eyes.

"Are you done yet?" he asked the reflection. When he received no answer, he brought his fist down onto the sink and caused the edge of it to break off and shatter onto the floor.

"_Are you done yet?_" he screamed at his reflection. Above him a light flickered, but he paid no attention.

"_Have you finished with me?!_" he pointed to his reflection. "Am I your monster yet?" he laughed, a laugh that echoed manically around the bathroom. "Am I alive or dead?"

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in his back and he collapsed onto the floor screaming in agony. Something cracked but he couldn't tell what, and an icy feeling crept along his shoulder blades.

"There's no point." He murmured after the pain had subsided a little. "No point…I already turned them away. There's no-one left to k-" he screamed again as another bolt of pain hit his chest and he dug his fingers into the floor until they began to bleed.

"It was all you're fault Granger…" he muttered feverishly. "You and the boy…wouldn't leave us alone…Kessler wanted it to work and then you changed his mind…now we have to…argh!" he jolted upright again as something erupted behind his neck. The lights were flickering everywhere now and sparks were beginning to shower from the power socket in the corner. The pain began to cloud his eyes, he couldn't see anything but red. Lots of red…blood. Blood everywhere. His blood? He couldn't tell. For some reason, he began to laugh.

"When the stars threw down their spears…" he muttered. "And water'd heaven with their tears, did he smile his work to see, did he who made the lamb make thee…?"

The globe in the bathroom light finally blew and the house went dark. Matthew, still fighting the burning pain in his body, slumped up beside the bath tub and turned the hot water tap on full blast. He hoisted himself up and crawled into the water, not noticing as the house filled with steam and water began to overflow. He began sinking under the water, murmuring to himself as he went down…

"Tiger, tiger, burning bright, in the forests of the night, what immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry…"

And then there was nothing. Nothing but the darkness and the faint screaming that seemed to echo long into the night…


End file.
